Treating an identity as an illness invites real illness to make a braver stand.
Andrew SolomonRead
Here halt, I pray you, make a little stay. O wayfarer, to read what I have writ, And know by my fate what thy fate shall be. What thou art now, so shall thou be. The world's delight I followed with a heart Unsatisfied: ashes am I, and dust.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the transience of life and the inevitability of death.
In this quote, Alcuin invites the reader to pause and reflect on their own fate by sharing his own experiences. He laments the fleeting nature of worldly pleasures, suggesting that despite a life spent in pursuit of delight, he has ultimately found himself reduced to nothing but ashes and dust. This serves as a somber reminder of mortality and the importance of introspection.
Themes
MortalityTransienceReflectionFateLife'S Journey
In practice
Example use cases
In a eulogy to remind us all of the fragility of life.
Similar quotes
It must be a peace without victory... Victory would mean peace forced upon the loser, a victor's terms imposed upon the vanquished. It would be accepted in humiliation, under duress, at an intolerable sacrifice, and would leave a sting, a resentment, a bitter memory upon which terms of peace would rest, not permanently, but only as upon quicksand. Only a peace between equals can last.
Woodrow WilsonRead
Do you think that God will punish them for not practicing a religion which he did not reveal to them?
Baron De MontesquieuRead
Such a caring for death, an awakening that keeps vigil over death, a conscience that looks death in the face, is another name for freedom.
Jacques DerridaRead
Some people accused me of being pro-Muslim in Bosnia, but I realised that our job is to give all sides an equal hearing, but in cases of genocide you can't just be neutral. You can't just say, 'Well, this little boy was shot in the head and killed in besieged Sarajevo and that guy over there did it, but maybe he was upset because he had an argument with his wife.' No, there is no equality there, and we had to tell the truth.
Christiane AmanpourRead
While I've found many of the religious shows I've viewed over the years not to be to my liking, or in line with my own beliefs, I've never considered it my place to exert any greater type of censorship than changing the channel, or better yet - turning off the TV completely.
Bill HicksRead