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
You cannot imagine the craving for rest that I feel-a hunger and thirst. For six long days, since my work was done, my mind has been a whirlpool, swift, unprogressive and incessant, a torrent of thoughts leading nowhere, spinning round swift and steady.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the deep yearning for rest and the overwhelming nature of constant, unproductive thoughts.
H. G. Wells articulates a powerful sentiment of mental exhaustion and the desire for peace that comes after a period of intense work. The image of a 'whirlpool' represents the chaotic and relentless flow of thoughts that, despite their volume, lead to no significant outcome. This highlights the importance of recognizing one's limits and the need for rest in order to regain clarity and focus.
Themes
RestThoughtsExhaustionPeaceMind
In practice
Example use cases
This quote is perfect to use during a wellness seminar to encourage the importance of rest.
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
Knowledge is realizing that the street is one way; wisdom is looking in both directions anyway.
Albert EinsteinRead
A falcon who chases a warlike crane can only hope for a life of pain.
Gabriel Garcia MarquezRead
From that time forth he believed that the wise man is one who never sets himself apart from other living things, whether they have speech or not, and in later years he strove long to learn what can be learned, in silence, from the eyes of animals, the flight of birds, the great slow gestures of trees.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
All that I did," she said, "everything I tried to do. All for nothing." Nothing is done entirely for nothing, said the fox of dreams. Nothing is wasted. You are older, and you have made decisions, and you are not the fox you were yesterday. Take what you have learned, and move on.
Neil GaimanRead
Intelligence, guided by kindness, is the highest wisdom. . . .
Robert Green IngersollRead
If you should encounter angry or unkind actions today, take a deep breath, reach deep within and greet the lack of love with love.
Iyanla VanzantRead