Whatever may be the tensions and the stresses of a particular day, there is always lurking close at hand the trailing beauty of forgotten joy or unremembered peace.
Howard ThurmanRead
What I have written is but a fleeting intimation of the outside of what one man sees and may tell about the path he walks. No one shares the secret of a life; no one enters into the heart of the mystery.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the individuality of human experience and the inherent solitude in understanding one's life journey.
Howard Thurman's quote emphasizes the uniqueness of personal experiences and the limitations of communication in conveying the depth of one's life. It suggests that while we may share our observations and narrate our journeys, the true essence of our inner lives and the complexities of our personal mysteries remain inaccessible to others. Each person's path is a solitary journey, lined with secrets that are often unshared.
Themes
IndividualityExperienceMysterySolitudeJourney
In practice
Example use cases
Use this quote in a discussion about the nature of personal experiences in a philosophy class.
More from Howard Thurman
All quotes →Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive
Howard ThurmanRead
What the world need is people who have come alive.
Howard ThurmanRead
A bigot is a person who makes an idol of his commitments.
Howard ThurmanRead
There must be always remaining in every life, some place for the singing of angels, some place for that which in itself is breathless and beautiful.
Howard ThurmanRead
At the core of life is a hard purposefulness, a determination to live.
Howard ThurmanRead
Similar quotes
It is an error to believe that Christ did not teach a determined body of doctrine applicable to all times and to all men, but rather that He inaugurated a religious movement adapted, or to be adapted, to different times and different places.
Pope Pius XRead
It is already possible to imagine a society in which the majority of the population, that is to say, its laborers, will have almost as much leisure as in earlier times was enjoyed by the aristocracy. When one recalls how aristocracies in the past actually behaved, the prospect is not cheerful.
W. H. AudenRead
"Let there be no inscription upon my tomb. Let no man write my epitaph. No man can write my epitaph. I am here ready to die. I am not allowed to vindicate my character; and when I am prevented from vindicating myself, let no man dare calumniate me. Let my character and motives repose in obscurity and peace, till other times and other men can do them justice.
Robert EmmetRead
However strong, however imposing a ship may appear, it is not 'disgraced' because it flies before the tempest. A commander ought always to remember that a man's life is worth more than the mere satisfaction of his own pride. In any case, to be obstinate is blameable, and to be wilful is dangerous.
Jules VerneRead
The prevalence of suicide, without doubt, is a test of height in civilization; it means that the population is winding up its nervous and intellectual system to the utmost point of tension and that sometimes it snaps.
Havelock EllisRead
Everything is as good or bad as our opinion makes it.
C. S. LewisRead