Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
The correction of silence is what kills; when you know you have transgressed, and your friend says nothing, and avoids your eye.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Silence can indicate deeper issues in a friendship, especially when one person feels guilty and the other does not confront them.
This quote by Robert Louis Stevenson highlights the pain caused by silence in relationships, particularly when one friend has wronged the other. It suggests that avoiding confrontation and not addressing transgressions can lead to feelings of guilt and unease, creating a silent tension that is more damaging than open communication would be.
Themes
SilenceFriendshipCommunicationGuiltTransgression
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about maintaining healthy relationships, one might refer to this quote to emphasize the importance of open communication.
More from Robert Louis Stevenson
All quotes βLike a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memories survive in time of sorrow.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
His past was fairly blameless; few men could read the rolls of their life with less apprehension; yet he was humbled to the dust by the many ill things he had done, and raised up again into sober and fearful gratitude by the many he had come so near to doing, yet avoided.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
The habit of being happy enables one to be freed, or largely freed, from the domination of outward conditions.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
It is the history of our kindnesses that alone make this world tolerable. If it were not for that, for the effect of kind words, kind looks, kind letters . . . I should be inclined to think our life a practical jest in the worst possible spirit.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
Similar quotes
And if Sam considered himself lucky, Frodo knew he was more lucky himself; for there was not a hobbit in the Shire that was looked after with such care.
J. R. R. TolkienRead
Go up close to your friend, but do not go over to him! We should also respect the enemy in our friend.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. When all other friends desert, he remains.
George Graham VestRead
I've been an important star and lived a full life, yet I only hve three close friends. I guess that's all anyone can expect.
Hedy LamarrRead
Without a doubt, my richest relationships are my long-term friendships with musical partners, because we make music together. That's what we love to do with our lives.
Chick CoreaRead
There is something about building up a comradeship - that I still believe is the greatest of all feats - and sharing in the dangers with your company of peers. It's the intense effort, the giving of everything you've got. It's really a very pleasant sensation.
Edmund HillaryRead