The laws of changeless justice bind oppressor and oppressed; and, close as sin and suffering joined we march to fate abreast.
John Greenleaf WhittierRead
The continuity of life is never broken; the river flows onward and is lost to our sight, but under its new horizon it carries the same waters which it gathered under ours, and its unseen valleys are made glad by the offerings which are borne down to them from the past,--flowers, perchance, the germs of which its own waves had planted on the banks of Time.
Interpretation
Life is a continuous flow, connecting the past with the present and future.
This quote expresses the idea that life is an unbroken continuum, where experiences, memories, and influences from the past contribute to the present and future. Just as a river carries waters from various sources, our lives are shaped by everything that has come before us, creating a connection across time and reminding us that what we see is only a part of a larger, unseen reality.
In practice
In a speech about legacy and heritage, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of our history.
The laws of changeless justice bind oppressor and oppressed; and, close as sin and suffering joined we march to fate abreast.
Nothing before, nothing behind; The steps of faith Fall on the seeming void, and find The Rock beneath.
the joy that you give to others is the joy that comes back to you
Before me, even as behind, God is, and all is well.
I know not where His islands lift Their fronded palms in air; I only know I cannot drift Beyond His love and care.
I'll lift you and you lift me, and we'll both ascend together.
It's clearly more important to treat one's fellow man well than to be always praying and fasting and touching one's head to a prayer mat.
Women, like men, ought to have their youth so glutted with freedom they hate the very idea of freedom.
The Way of Heaven does not complete, and yet it skillfully achieves victory. It does not speak, and yet it skillfully responds to things. It comes to you without your invitation.
What does it mean for a civilisation to be a million years old? We have had radio telescopes and spaceships for a few decades; our technical civilisation is a few hundred years old ... an advanced civilisation millions of years old is as much beyond us as we are beyond a bushbaby or a macaque
IN ALL MY FILMS, IT SEEMED IMPORTANT TO ME TO REMIND THE AUDIENCE TO THE FACT THAT THEY ARE NOT ALONE, LOST IN AN EMPTY UNIVERSE, BUT THAT THEY ARE CONNECTED BY INNUMERABLE THREADS WITH THEIR PAST AND PRESENT, THAT THROUGH CERTAIN MYSTICAL WAYS, EVERY HUMAN BEING REALIZES THE RAPPORT WITH THE WORLD AND THE LIFE OF HUMANITY.
Man is the only animal capable of reasoning, though many others possess the faculty of memory and instruction in common with him.
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