The comic spirit is given to us in order that we may analyze, weigh, and clarify things in us which nettle us, or which we are outgrowing, or trying to reshape
Thornton WilderRead
For what human ill does dawn not seem to be alternative?
Interpretation
Dawn symbolizes hope and new beginnings, suggesting that with each new day comes the possibility of overcoming life's challenges.
Thornton Wilder's quote reflects on the optimistic notion that every dawn brings with it an opportunity for renewal and alternative solutions to the struggles of humanity. It suggests that no matter the ailment or hardship faced by humans, the arrival of a new day offers an invitation to seek alternatives and hope for improvement.
In practice
During a motivational speech about resilience, sharing this quote can inspire others to see the potential in new beginnings.
The comic spirit is given to us in order that we may analyze, weigh, and clarify things in us which nettle us, or which we are outgrowing, or trying to reshape
A man looks pretty small at a wedding, George. All those good women standing shoulder to shoulder, making sure that the knot's tied in a mighty public way.
Good-by, Good-by, world. Good-by, Grover's Corners... Mama and Papa. Good-by to clocks ticking... and Mama's sunflowers. And food and coffee. And new-ironed dresses and hot baths...and sleeping and waking up. Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you.
When you're safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you're having an adventure you wish you were safe at home.
Many great writers have been extraordinarily awkward in daily exchange, but the greatest give the impression that their style was nursed by the closest attention to colloquial speech.
I want you to try and remember what it was like to have been very young. And particularly the days when you were first in love; when you were like a person sleepwalking, and you didn’t quite see the street you were in, and didn’t quite hear everything that was said to you. You’re just a little bit crazy. Will you remember that, please?
...the scientific attitude implies what I call the postulate of objectivity-that is to say, the fundamental postulate that there is no plan, that there is no intention in the universe. Now, this is basically incompatible with virtually all the religious or metaphysical systems whatever, all of which try to show that there is some sort of harmony between man and the universe and that man is a product-predictable if not indispensable-of the evolution of the universe.
Do you, good people, believe that Adam and Eve were created in the Garden of Eden and that they were forbidden to eat from the tree of knowledge? I do. The church has always been afraid of that tree. It still is afraid of knowledge. Some of you say religion makes people happy. So does laughing gas. So does whiskey. I believe in the brain of man.
Death is an evil; the gods have so judged; had it been good, they would die.
The world is full of judgment-days, and into every assembly that a man enters, in every action he attempts, he is gauged and stamped.
At the supreme moment of his dying Jesus so identified himself with men and the depths of their predicament and agony that no man can now sink so low that God has not gone lower.
Be a good man to Allah and a bad man to yourself (desires); and be one of the commoners among the people
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.