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Labor is the curse of the world, and nobody can meddle with it without becoming proportionately brutalized.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Labor can strip away humanity and compassion, leading to brutal behavior.

In this quote, Nathaniel Hawthorne expresses a somber view of labor, suggesting that the toil and struggle associated with work can have a dehumanizing effect on individuals. He implies that when people engage in labor, they risk losing their innate kindness and compassion, becoming more brutal in their interactions and attitudes, which raises questions about the nature of work and its impact on human character.

Themes

LaborBrutalizationWorkHumanityPhilosophy

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a speech about the impact of industrialization on worker's mental health.

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Let men tremble to win the hand of woman, unless they win along with it the utmost passion of her heart! Else it may be their miserable fortune, when some mightier touch than their own may have awakened all her sensibilities, to be reproached even for the calm content, the marble image of happiness, which they will have imposed upon her as the warm reality.
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The thing you set your mind on is the thing you ultimately become.
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