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.
Frank O'ConnorRead
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.
Interpretation
Experiencing loss leads to greater appreciation for what we had.
In this quote, Frank O'Connor reflects on the relationship between loss and gratitude, suggesting that feeling grief is a sign of having had meaningful experiences and connections in life. He posits that the people who traverse through life without experiencing grief miss out on the depth of love and attachment that gives life its value.
In practice
During a speech about resilience after loss, this quote could inspire others to find value in their grief.
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.
Providence is wiser than you, and you may be confident it has suited all things better to your eternal good than you could do had you been left to your own option.
The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going.
I wish to suggest that a man may be very industrious, and yet not spend his time well. There is no more fatal blunderer than he who consumes the greater part of his life getting his living. All great enterprises are self-supporting. The poet, for instance, must sustain his body by his poetry, as a steam planing-mill feeds its boilers with the shavings it makes. You must get your living by loving.
Until you make peace with your difficult memories, that pain will continue to bleed into your current and future experiences.
The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem.
Every one should consider himself as intrusted not only with his own conduct, but with that of others; and as accountable, not only for the duties which he neglects, or the crimes that he commits, but for that negligence and irregularity which he may encourage or inculcate. Every man, in whatever station, has, or endeavours to have his followers, admirers, and imitators, and has therefore the influence of his example to watch with care.
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