Associate with the noblest people you can find; read the best books; live with the mighty; but learn to be happy alone.
Saul BellowRead
Live or die but don't poison everything.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Choose to live fully or not at all, but be mindful of the impact your actions have on others.
This quote by Saul Bellow emphasizes the importance of approaching life with authenticity and awareness. It suggests that one should embrace life wholeheartedly or choose not to engage, but in either case, it is crucial to avoid spreading negativity or harm to others. The phrase 'don't poison everything' serves as a caution against allowing one's bitterness or discontent to affect those around them.
Themes
LifeAuthenticityNegativityImpactAwareness
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a motivational speech about making positive choices in life.
More from Saul Bellow
All quotes βWhen we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice.
Saul BellowRead
In here, the human bosom -- mine, yours, everybody's -- there isn't just one soul. There's a lot of souls. But there are two main ones, the real soul and a pretender soul. Now! Every man realizes that he has to love something or somebody. He feels that he must go outward. 'If thou canst not love, what art thou?' Are you with me?
Saul BellowRead
I've discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing. They teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in his heart of hearts, 'To hell with you.'
Saul BellowRead
I see that I've become a really bad correspondent. It's not that I don't think of you. You come into my thoughts often. But when you do it appears to me that I owe you a particularly grand letter. And so you end in the "warehouse of good intentions": "Can't do it now." "Then put it on hold." This is one's strategy for coping with old age, and with death--because one can't die with so many obligations in storage. Our clever species, so fertile and resourceful in denying its weaknesses.
Saul BellowRead
A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.
Saul BellowRead
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