Two such as you with such a master speed, cannot be parted nor be swept away, from one another once you are agreed, that life is only life forevermore, together wing to wing and oar to oar.
Robert FrostRead
There is the fear that we shan't prove worthy in the eyes of someone who knows us at least as well as we know ourselves. That is the fear of God. And there is the fear of Man -fear that men won't understand us and we shall be cut of from them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The fear of being judged by those who truly know us reflects our deep-seated insecurities.
In this quote, Robert Frost explores two fundamental fears: the fear of divine judgment and the fear of human misunderstanding. He suggests that both fears stem from our desire for acceptance and worthiness, highlighting the struggle between our inner selves and our external relationships. The fear of God represents the anxiety that comes from the possibility of being unworthy in the eyes of a higher power, while the fear of Man illustrates the concern of being isolated or rejected by our peers due to a lack of understanding.
Themes
FearAcceptanceWorthinessUnderstandingJudgment
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a philosophical discussion about self-worth and societal expectations.
More from Robert Frost
All quotes →You have freedom when you're easy in your harness.
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God made a beauteous garden With lovely flowers strown, But one straight, narrow pathway That was not overgrown. And to this beauteous garden He brought mankind to live, And said "To you, my children, These lovely flowers I give. Prune ye my vines and fig trees, With care my flowers tend, But keep the pathway open Your home is at the end." God's Garden
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'Warm in December, cold in June, you say?' _x000D_ _x000D_ I don't suppose the water's changed at all. _x000D_ _x000D_ You and I know enough to know it's warm _x000D_ _x000D_ Compared with cold, and cold compared with warm. _x000D_ _x000D_ But all the fun's in how you say a thing.
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For, dear me, why abandon a belief, Merely because it ceases to be true, Cling to it long enough, and not a doubt, It will turn true again, for so it goes.
Robert FrostRead
The question that he frames in all but words is what to make of a diminished thing.
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