Day and night,_x000D_ _x000D_ Seed-time and harvest, heat and hoary frost_x000D_ _x000D_ Shall hold their course, till fire purge all things new.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the inevitability of change and the cyclical nature of life.
John Milton's quote emphasizes the continuity and persistence of natural cycles, such as the passage of day and night and the phases of planting and harvesting. It suggests that these rhythms are essential to life's progress and transformation, hinting at a larger process of purification and renewal that will eventually occur.
In practice
In a speech about resilience, this quote can illustrate how change is a natural part of life.
They, looking back, all the eastern side beheld Of Paradise, so late their happy seat, Waved over by that flaming brand, the gate With dreadful faces thronged and fiery arms: Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon; The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest, and Providence their guide; They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow, Through Eden took their solitary way.
The stars, that nature hung in heaven, and filled their lamps with everlasting oil, give due light to the misled and lonely traveller.
Ev'n them who kept thy truth so pure of old, When all our fathers worshipp'd stocks and stones.
Abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is and saw Virtue in her shape how lovely: and pined his loss
The end of all learning is to know God, and out of that knowledge to love and imitate Him.
Apt words have power to suage the tumors of a troubled mind.
After living with their dysfunctional behavior for so many years, people become invested in defending their dysfunctions rather than changing them.
It is perfectly obvious that the whole world is going to hell. The only possible chance that it might not is that we do not attempt to prevent it from doing so.
You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.
Historical fact: People stopped being people in 1913. That was the year Henry Ford put his cars on rollers and made his workers adopt the speed of the assembly line. At first, workers rebelled. They quit in droves, unable to accustom their bodies to the new pace of the age. Since then, however, the adaptation has been passed down: we've all inherited it to some degree, so that we plug right into joy-sticks and remotes, to repetitive motions of a hundred kinds.
At Kobe, whither I fled from Hong Kong, I took a step of great importance. I cut off my cue, which had been growing all my life.
Openings come quickly, sometimes, like blue space in running clouds. A complete overcast, then a blaze of light.
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