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I look'd to Heav'n, and try'd to pray; But or ever a prayer had gusht, A wicked whisper came and made My heart as dry as dust.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote reflects the struggle between spiritual aspiration and the distractions of negative thoughts.

In this quote by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the speaker expresses a deep internal conflict where an attempt to reach out to a higher power through prayer is thwarted by troubling thoughts. The phrase 'a wicked whisper' symbolizes the intrusive negativity that can obstruct one's spiritual and emotional openness, leading to a feeling of desolation and dryness in the heart, akin to a lack of vitality or hope.

Themes

PrayerThoughtsStruggleSpiritualityNegativity

In practice

Example use cases

During a discussion about the challenges of faith in difficult times.

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We ought not to extract pernicious honey from poison blossoms of misrepresentation and mendacious half-truth, to pamper the course appetite of bigotry and self-love.
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And all who heard should see them there, And all should cry, Beware! Beware! His flashing eyes, his floating hair! Weave a circle round him thrice, And close your eyes with holy dread, For he on honey-dew hath fed, And drunk the milk of Paradise.
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Often do the spirits stride on before the event; and in today already walks tomorrow.
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Mr. Lyell's system of geology is just half the truth, and no more. He affirms a great deal that is true, and he denies a great deal which is equally true; which is the general characteristic of all systems not embracing the whole truth.
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To believe and to understand are not diverse things, but the same things in different periods of growth.
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