Music has charms to sooth a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.
William CongreveRead
Grief walks upon the heels of pleasure; married in haste, we repent at leisure.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Grief often follows happiness, and hasty decisions can lead to regret over time.
This quote reflects on the intertwined nature of joy and sorrow in life. It suggests that while moments of pleasure are often fleeting, they can lead to feelings of grief or loss, particularly when decisions are made impulsively, such as in relationships. The second part emphasizes the idea that when we rush into commitments or actions, we might later find ourselves regretting those choices as we face their consequences.
Themes
GriefPleasureRegretDecisionsRelationships
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a discussion about the emotional complexity of relationships at a seminar.
More from William Congreve
All quotes βShe likes herself, yet others hates, For that which in herself she prizes; And while she laughs at them, forgets She is the thing that she despises.
William CongreveRead
Women are like tricks by sleight of hand, Which, to admire, we should not understand
William CongreveRead
But say what you will, 'tis better to be left than never to have been loved. To pass our youth in dull indifference, to refuse the sweets of life because they once must leave us, is as preposterous as to wish to have been born old, because we one day must be old.
William CongreveRead
There is in true beauty, as in courage, something which narrow souls cannot dare to admire.
William CongreveRead
Uncertainty and expectation are the joys of life. Security is an insipid thing.
William CongreveRead
Similar quotes
Species do not grow more perfect: the weaker dominate the strong, again and again- the reason being that they are the great majority, and they are also cleverer. Darwin forgot the mind (-that is English!): the weak possess more mind. ... To acquire mind, one must need mind-one loses it when one no longer needs it.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
In life our first job is this, to divide and distinguish things into two categories: externals I cannot control, but the choices I make with regard to them I do control. Where will I find good and bad? In me, in my choices.
EpictetusRead
See that you buy the field where the Pearl is; sell all, and make a purchase of salvation. Think it not easy: for it is a steep ascent to eternal glory: many are lying dead by the way, slain with security.
Samuel RutherfordRead
When there are no gas chambers, no barbed wire, and no concentration camps, many don't recognize the perpetration of new genocides and other targeted mass atrocity crimes because they may not look the same.
John PrendergastRead
The essential idea of Stoicism in my interpretation is, you don't control the world around you, you control how you respond. At 19, that's very empowering.
Ryan HolidayRead
Everything - a horse, a vine - is created for some duty... For what task, then, were you yourself created?
Marcus AureliusRead