Even for those to whom life and death are equal jests. There are some things that are still held in respect.
Interpretation
Life and death are not serious to some, yet certain matters still command respect.
In this quote, Edgar Allan Poe reflects on the perspective that some individuals view life and death as trivial, yet he emphasizes that there are still aspects of existence that should be treated with dignity and reverence. This highlights the duality of human experience, acknowledging that while some may adopt a light-hearted approach to such profound themes, there are still fundamental truths and values that deserve respect.
In practice
This quote can be shared in a discussion about the different attitudes people have towards life and death during a philosophy class.
But evil things, in robes of sorrow, Assailed the monarch's high estate; (Ah, let us mourn, for never morrow Shall dawn upon him desolate!) And round about his home the glory That blushed and bloomed, Is but a dim-remembered story Of the old time entombed.
Most writers - poets in especial - prefer having it understood that they compose by a species of fine frenzy - an ecstatic intuition - and would positively shudder at letting the public take a peep behind the scenes.
...the agony of my soul found vent in one loud, long and final scream of despair.
Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best have gone to their eternal rest.
I could have clasped the red walls to my bosom as a garment of eternal peace. "Death," I said, "any death but that of the pit!" Fool! might I have not known that into the pit it was the object of the burning iron to urge me?
In our endeavors to recall to memory something long forgotten, we often find ourselves upon the very verge of remembrance, without being able, in the end, to remember.
There is an increasing awareness of the interrelatedness of things. We are becoming less prone to accept an immediate solution without questioning its larger implications.
The usefulness of religion - the fact that it gives life meaning, that it makes people feel good - is not an argument for the truth of any religious doctrine. It's not an argument that it's reasonable to believe that Jesus really was born of a virgin or that the Bible is the perfect word of the creator of the universe.
War forgets peace. Peace forgives war. War is the death of the life human. Peace is the birth of the Life Divine. Our vital passions want war. Our psychic emotions desire peace.
If we had helped a hundred children it would have all been worthwhile.
Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.
Character in a saint means the disposition of Jesus Christ persistently manifested.
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