Love built on beauty, soon as beauty, dies.
Goe and catche a falling starre, Get with child a mandrake root, Tell me, where all past yeares are, Or who cleft the Divel's foot. Teach me to hear Mermaides' singing, Or to keep of envies stinging, And finde What winde Serves to advance an honest minde.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a desire for knowledge beyond the ordinary, expressing the complexity of human experience and the quest for truth.
In this quote, John Donne conveys a profound longing for understanding the elusive and mysterious aspects of life. He challenges the reader to pursue knowledge that goes beyond the tangible, such as the mythical and the fantastical, while also yearning for insight into the deeper meanings of existence and the true essence of an honest mind. The whimsical imagery suggests that these inquiries are as difficult to grasp as catching a falling star, which underscores the futility yet fascination of such pursuits.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a motivational speech about the pursuit of knowledge.
More from John Donne
All quotes →Reason is our soul's left hand, Faith her right, By these we reach divinity
All occasions invite His mercies, and all times are His seasons.
If poisonous minerals, and if that tree, Whose fruit threw death on else immortal us, If lecherous goats, if serpents envious Cannot be damned; alas; why should I be?
Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
I call not that virginity a virtue, which resideth onely in the bodies integrity; much less if it be with a purpose of perpetually keeping it: for then it is a most inhumane vice. - But I call that Virginity a virtue which is willing and desirous to yield it self upon honest and lawfull terms, when just reason requireth; and until then, is kept with a modest chastity of body and mind.
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Your breathing should flow gracefully, like a river, like a watersnake crossing the water, and not like a chain of rugged mountains or the gallop of a horse. To master our breath is to be in control of our bodies and minds. Each time we find ourselves dispersed and find it difficult to gain control of ourselves by different means, the method of watching the breath should always be used.
Freedom is choosing your responsibility. It's not having no responsibilitie s; it's choosing the ones you want.
Without using the word, everyone started forgiving each other again. Just like that, from the no of all nothingness: you have a big tense mess and out of it comes some joy. It must be magic.
Nothing can be forced, receptivity is everything.