The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
Joy is more divine than sorrow, for joy is bread and sorrow is medicine.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Joy is a more valuable and essential experience than sorrow, which has its own purpose.
In this quote, Henry Ward Beecher asserts that joy holds a more sacred and fundamental place in human experience compared to sorrow. While sorrow can have its healing qualities, likened to medicine, joy is portrayed as vital sustenance—something that nourishes the soul, much like bread does for the body. This highlights the importance of cherishing joyful moments, acknowledging their profound impact on our lives.
Themes
JoySorrowHappinessDivineBreadMedicine
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about the importance of positivity.
More from Henry Ward Beecher
All quotes →A man who cannot get angry is like a stream that cannot overflow, that is always turbid. Sometimes indignation is as good as a thunderstorm in summer, clearing and cooling the air.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
No one can deal with the hearts of men unless he has the sympathy which is given by love.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
We are always on the anvil; by trials God is shaping us for higher things.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
No man can tell if he is rich or poor by turning to his ledger. It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
There are joys which long to be ours. God sends ten thousands truths, which come about us like birds seeking inlet; but we are shut up to them, and so they bring us nothing, but sit and sing awhile upon the roof, and then fly away.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
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