Nature never appeals to intelligence until habit and instinct are useless. There is no intelligence where there is no need of change.
H. G. WellsRead
And I have by me, for my comfort, two strange white flowers - shriveled now, and brown and flat and brittle - to witness that even when mind and strength had gone, gratitude and a mutual tenderness still lived on in the heart of men.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the enduring qualities of gratitude and tenderness in the face of adversity.
In this poignant reflection by H. G. Wells, the author uses the imagery of two strange white flowers to symbolize the lasting presence of human emotions like gratitude and tenderness, even when physical vitality and mental strength have diminished. This suggests that, despite life's challenges and the inevitable decline we experience, the values of appreciation and mutual affection remain vital and provide comfort.
Themes
GratitudeTendernessComfortHumanityEmotions
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of gratitude during difficult times.
More from H. G. Wells
All quotes →He spares no resource in telling of his dead inventions... Bare verbs he rarely tolerates. He splits infinitives and fills them up with adverbial stuffing. He presses the passing colloquialism into his service. His vast paragraphis sweat and struggle; the
H. G. WellsRead
It [a new world order] needs only that the governments of Britain, the United States, France, Germany, and Russia should get together in order to set up an effective control of currency, credit, production, and distribution – that is to say, an effective ‘dictatorship of prosperity,’ for the whole world. The other sixty odd States would have to join in or accommodate themselves to the over-ruling decisions of these major Powers.
H. G. WellsRead
Things that would have made fame of a less clever man seemed tricks in his hands. It is a mistake to do things too easily.
H. G. WellsRead
But I was too restless to watch long; I'm too Occidental for a long vigil. I could work at a problem for years, but to wait inactive for twenty-four hours - that's another matter.
H. G. WellsRead
The greatest task of democracy, its ritual and feast - is choice.
H. G. WellsRead
Similar quotes
Good and evil are a great deal more complex than a princess and a dragon . . . is not the dragon the hero of his own story?
Erin MorgensternRead
We are mad, not only individually, but nationally. We check manslaughter and isolated murders; but what of war and the much-vaunted crime of slaughtering whole peoples?
Seneca The YoungerRead
One point of difference between Hinduism and other religions is that in Hinduism we pass from truth to truth-from a lower truth to a higher truth-and never from error to truth.
Swami VivekanandaRead
On occasion, terrorists will succeed despite our best efforts. That is part of the legacy of 9/11. But 9/11 also shows us that while terrorists can destroy, they are unable to create.
Richard N. HaassRead
I wanted my own words. But the ones I use have dragged through I don't know how many consciences.
Jean-Paul SartreRead
Contrariwise, if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.
Lewis CarrollRead