They're ugly, but those are the facts of life.
Harper LeeRead
She knew full well the enormity of her offense, but because her desires were stronger than the code she was breaking, she persisted in breaking it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote illustrates the struggle between personal desires and moral codes.
In this quote, Harper Lee reflects on the conflict that arises when an individual's desires overpower their understanding of ethical boundaries. It emphasizes the complexity of human nature, where the pursuit of personal needs and wants can lead individuals to knowingly transgress societal or moral standards, highlighting a deep inner turmoil between desire and responsibility.
Themes
DesireMoralityConflictHuman NatureCode
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about ethics and decision-making, you can use this quote to illustrate the tension between personal desires and moral obligations.
More from Harper Lee
All quotes →It's better to be silent than to be a fool.
Harper LeeRead
Don’t talk like that, Dill,” said Aunt Alexandra. “It’s not becoming to a child. It’s – cynical.” “I ain’t cynical, Miss Alexandra. Tellin’ the truth’s not cynical, is it?” “The way you tell it, it is.
Harper LeeRead
With him, life was routine; without him, life was unbearable.
Harper LeeRead
He turned out the light and went into Jem's room. He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning.
Harper LeeRead
You can choose your friends but you sho' can't choose your family, an' they're still kin to you no matter whether you acknowledge 'em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don't.
Harper LeeRead
Similar quotes
Every man on earth is sick with the fever of sin, with the blindness of sin and is overcome with its fury. As sins consist mostly of malice and pride, it is necessary to treat everyone who suffers from the malady of sin with kindness and love. This is an important truth, which we often forget. Very often we act in the opposite manner: we add malice to malice by our anger, we oppose pride with pride. Thus, evil grows within us and does not decrease; it is not cured - rather it spreads
John Of KronstadtRead
It is human nature to look away from illness. We don't enjoy a reminder of our own fragile mortality. That's why writing on the Internet has become a lifesaver for me. My ability to think and write have not been affected. And on the Web, my real voice finds expression.
Roger EbertRead
Let the moment go. . . . Don't forget it for a moment, though. Just remembering you've had an "and" when you're back to "or" makes the "or" mean more than it did before. . . . Now I understand! And it's time to leave the woods.
Stephen SondheimRead
Adult life is dealing with an enormous amount of questions that don't have answers. So I let the mystery settle into my music. I don't deny anything, I don't advocate anything, I just live with it.
Bruce SpringsteenRead
Jiva (individual soul) is the conscious ruler of this body, in whom the five life principles come into unity, and yet that very Jiva is the Atman, because all is Atman.
Swami VivekanandaRead
Perhaps there is no other knowing than the mere competence of the act. If at the heart of one's being, there is no self to which one ought to be true, then sincerity is simply nerve; it lies in the unabashed vigor of the pretense. But pretense is only pretense when it is assumed that the act is not true to the agent. Find the agent.
Alan WattsRead