Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
This grove, that was now so peaceful, must then have rung with cries, I thought; and even with the thought I could believe I heard it ringing still.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the contrast between past turmoil and present peace in a natural setting.
In this quote, Robert Louis Stevenson reflects on how a serene grove, which appears tranquil in the present, was once filled with noise and cries. This juxtaposition highlights the passage of time and the tranquility that often follows chaos, allowing one to appreciate the peacefulness of the present while being mindful of its tumultuous past.
In practice
In a speech about personal growth, one might refer to this quote to illustrate how we can find peace after hardship.
Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.
Like a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memories survive in time of sorrow.
That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much.
His past was fairly blameless; few men could read the rolls of their life with less apprehension; yet he was humbled to the dust by the many ill things he had done, and raised up again into sober and fearful gratitude by the many he had come so near to doing, yet avoided.
The habit of being happy enables one to be freed, or largely freed, from the domination of outward conditions.
It is the history of our kindnesses that alone make this world tolerable. If it were not for that, for the effect of kind words, kind looks, kind letters . . . I should be inclined to think our life a practical jest in the worst possible spirit.
We had always dwelled together, beneath a tropical sun, in the Valley of the Many Colored Grass.
Sometimes I feel like Iβm actually on the wrong planet. Itβs great when Iβm in my garden, but the minute I go out the gate I think, βWhat the hell am I doing here?
The autumn always gets me badly, as it breaks into colours. I want to go south, where there is no autumn, where the cold doesn't crouch over one like a snow-leopard waiting to pounce.
It is wonderful to feel the grandness of Canada in the raw.
Plants of great vigor will almost always struggle into blossom, despite impediments. But there should be encouragement, and a free genial atmosphere for those of more timid sort, fair play for each in its own kind.
It's a matter of life and death for this country. The Kenyan forests are facing extinction and it is a man-made problem.
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