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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the missed opportunities and truths in life that we often overlook.
Henry Ward Beecher's quote emphasizes how we are surrounded by potential joys and truths that we fail to embrace. He likens these truths to birds that come close yet cannot land due to our closed-off nature, suggesting that we often miss out on valuable experiences because we do not open ourselves to the possibilities around us.
Themes
TruthsJoysOpportunitiesPossibilitiesLife
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about embracing life's opportunities, you could use this quote to illustrate the importance of being open to new experiences.
More from Henry Ward Beecher
All quotes βA 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
Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith. We should live for the future, and yet should find our life in the fidelities of the present; the last is only the method of the first.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
Similar quotes
Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control; these three alone lead one to sovereign power.
Alfred Lord TennysonRead
Difficulties are things that show a person what they are.
EpictetusRead
When someone seeks," said Siddhartha, "then it easily happens that his eyes see only the thing that he seeks, and he is able to find nothing, to take in nothing because he always thinks only about the thing he is seeking, because he has one goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: having a goal. But finding means: being free, being open, having no goal.
Hermann HesseRead
Improvising is wonderful. But, the thing is that you cannot improvise unless you know exactly what you're doing. That's a kind of paradoxical thing about improvising.
Christopher WalkenRead
Men are men before they are lawyers, or physicians, or merchants, or manufacturers; and if you make them capable and sensible men, they will make themselves capable and sensible lawyers or physicians.
John Stuart MillRead
Honoring the priesthood fosters respect, respect promotes reverence, and reverence invites revelation.
Russell M. NelsonRead