Good never come of such evil, a happier end was not in nature to so unhappy a beginning.
Interpretation
Good outcomes cannot arise from evil actions, as happiness cannot logically emerge from a negative start.
This quote by Charles Dickens reflects on the relationship between beginnings and outcomes, suggesting that a negative or evil origin will not produce a positive or good result. It highlights the inherent connection between the nature of an event's start and its eventual conclusion, emphasizing that happiness and goodness cannot stem from unhappy beginnings marked by evil.
In practice
A speaker at a community event discussing the importance of ethical choices might use this quote to illustrate their point.
I recollected one story there was in the village, how that on a certain night in the year (it might be that very night for anything I knew), all the dead people came out of the ground and sat at the heads of their own graves till morning.
A silent look of affection and regard when all other eyes are turned coldly away-the consciousness that we possess the sympathy and affection of one being when all others have deserted us-is a hold, a stay, a comfort, in the deepest affliction, which no wealth could purchase, or power bestow.
Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried, than before--more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle.
There are not a few among the disciples of charity who require, in their vocation, scarcely less excitement than the votaries of pleasure in theirs.
You might, from your appearance, be the wife of Lucifer,” said Miss Pross, in her breathing. “Nevertheless, you shall not get the better of me. I am an Englishwoman.
Christmas is a poor excuse every 25th of December to pick a man's pockets.
I shall consider human actions and desires in exactly the same manner, as though I were concerned with lines, planes and solids.
I apply the Abraham Lincoln test for moral casuistry: 'If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.' Well, then, if waterboarding does not constitute torture, then there is no such thing as torture.
I threw up again that night, half-afraid that my eyeballs would explode. But it was, by far, more important that I get rid of dinner. Of course, by then, throwing up was the only way I knew how to deal with fear. That paradox would begin to run my life: to know that what you are doing is hurting you, maybe killing you, and to be afraid of that fact--but to cling to the idea that this will save you, it will, in the end, make things okay.
May I not come before You with empty hands, since we are rewarded according to our deeds.
America, how can I write a holy litany in your silly mood?
There is not much sense in suffering, since drugs can be given for pain, itching, and other discomforts. The belief has long died that suffering here on earth will be rewarded in heaven. Suffering has lost its meaning.
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