We must never expect discretion in first love: it is accompanied by such excessive joy that unless the joy is allowed to overflow, it will choke you.
Alexandre DumasRead
The difference between treason and patriotism is only a matter of dates.
Interpretation
Treason and patriotism can be viewed as the same action depending on the perspective and timing of those judging it.
This quote highlights the subjective nature of concepts like treason and patriotism, suggesting that actions may be interpreted differently based on the context, historical timing, and the perspective of the evaluator. What is seen as treasonous by one group can be viewed as patriotic by another, reflecting the complexities of moral and political judgments in human society.
In practice
This quote could be used in a political discussion about nationalism and its implications.
We must never expect discretion in first love: it is accompanied by such excessive joy that unless the joy is allowed to overflow, it will choke you.
There are two ways of seeing: with the body and with the soul. The body's sight can sometimes forget, but the soul remembers forever.
I do not often laugh, sir, as you may perceive by the air of my countenance; but nevertheless, I retain the privilege of laughing when I please.
There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness.
Those born to wealth, and who have the means of gratifying every wish, know not what is the real happiness of life, just as those who have been tossed on the stormy waters of the ocean on a few frail planks can alone realize the blessings of fair weather.
It is the way of weakened minds to see everything through a black cloud. The soul forms its own horizons; your soul is darkened, and consequently the sky of the future appears stormy and unpromising
Indeed, as any one who has ever worked among the poor knows only too well, the brotherhood of man is no mere poet's dream, it is a most depressing and humiliating reality.
It is one of the secrets of Nature in its mood of mockery that fine weather lays heavier weight on the mind and hearts of the depressed and the inwardly tormented than does a really bad day with dark rain sniveling continuously and sympathetically from a dirty sky.
When we discover that the truth is already in us, we are all at once our original selves.
If we continue to make moral judgements (and whatever we say shall in fact continue) then we must believe that the conscience of man is not a product of nature.
Do not look at the faces in the illustrated papers. Look at the faces in the street.
Neither a life of anarchy nor a life under a despot should you praise. To all that lies in the middle has a god given excellence.
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