Even if there were only two men left in the world and both of them saints they wouldn't be happy. One them would be bound to try and improve the other. That is the nature of things.
Interpretation
Human nature drives us to seek improvement in others, which can lead to dissatisfaction.
This quote by Frank O'Connor reflects on the inherent nature of humanity, suggesting that even in a perfect context, such as with two saints, happiness is elusive. The constant desire to improve others, and by extension, ourselves, is a fundamental aspect of human interaction that can disrupt tranquility and contentment.
In practice
In a discussion about the challenges of relationships, one might quote this to illustrate the complexity of human interactions.
All I know from my own experience is that the more loss we feel the more grateful we should be for whatever it was we had to lose. It means that we had something worth grieving for. The ones I'm sorry for are the ones that go through life not knowing what grief is.
Most people are prisoners, thinking only about the future or living in the past. They are not in the present, and the present is where everything begins.
Every human being in that case resembles Christ in his loneliness; and that is the hardest part, that's real hunger.
Whilst shame keeps its watch, virtue is not wholly extinguished in the heart; nor will moderation be utterly exiled from the minds of tyrants.
They say my verse is sad: no wonder; Its narrow measure spans Tears of eternity, and sorrow, Not mine. but man's.
I envied those who could believe in a God and I distrusted them. I felt they were keeping their courage up with a fable of the changeless and the permanent. Death was far more certain than God, and with death there would be no longer the possibility of love dying.
In the name of Hippocrates, doctors have invented the most exquisite form of torture ever known to man: survival.
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