To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization.
Harriet Beecher StoweRead
It is generally understood that men don't aspire after the absolute right, but only to do about as well as the rest of the world.
Interpretation
What this quote means
People often strive for a level of success that matches their peers rather than pursuing what is truly right or ideal.
This quote by Harriet Beecher Stowe suggests that individuals tend to measure their aspirations against societal norms rather than against an absolute standard of rightness or moral integrity. It points to a human tendency to settle for mediocrity instead of striving for the highest ethical ideals, reflecting how social comparisons can shape personal ambitions and behaviors.
Themes
AspirationMediocritySuccessSocietyComparison
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about self-improvement, one might quote Stowe to emphasize the importance of pursuing personal ideals rather than conforming to societal expectations.
More from Harriet Beecher Stowe
All quotes βWhat's your hurry?" Because now is the only time there ever is to do a thing in," said Miss Ophelia.
Harriet Beecher StoweRead
So much has been said and sung of beautiful young girls, why doesn't somebody wake up to the beauty of old women.
Harriet Beecher StoweRead
Death! Strange that there should be such a word, and such a thing, and we ever forget it; that one should be living, warm and beautiful, full of hopes, desires and wants, one day, and the next be gone, utterly gone, and forever!
Harriet Beecher StoweRead
Once, in an age, God sends to some of us a friend who loves in us, not a false imagining, an unreal character, but, looking through all the rubbish of our imperfections, loves in us the divine ideal of our nature, β loves, not the man that we are, but the angel that we may be.
Harriet Beecher StoweRead
What is it that sometimes speaks in the soul so calmly, so clearly, that its earthly time is short? Is it the secret instinct of decaying nature, or the soul's impulsive throb, as immortality draws on? Be what it may, it rested in the heart of Eva, a calm, sweet, prophetic certainty that Heaven was near; calm as the light of sunset, sweet as the bright stillness of autumn, there her little heart reposed, only troubled by sorrow for those who loved her so dearly.
Harriet Beecher StoweRead
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