I hope, if you should live to grow up, you will endeavour to be very useful and not spend all your time in pleasing yourself.
Elizabeth FryRead
The loveliest, sweetest flower that bloomed in paradise, and the first that died, has rarely blossomed since on mortal soil. It is so frail, so delicate, a thing, it is gone if it but look upon itself; and she who ventures to esteem it hers proves by that single thought she has it not.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the ephemeral nature of beauty and love, suggesting that true appreciation can lessen its value.
Elizabeth Fry's quote captures the fragility of beautiful things, especially love, implying that their rarity and delicacy make them incredibly precious. It conveys a profound truth about how possessing something as beautiful as love can alter its value, as true admiration may come with the realization of its unattainable nature, leading to a deeper sense of loss and longing.
Themes
LoveBeautyFragilityLossAppreciation
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used during a wedding ceremony to highlight the delicate nature of love.
More from Elizabeth Fry
All quotes →Similar quotes
I gave him my heart, and he took and pinched it to death; and flung it back to me.
Emily BronteRead
This is not a letter but my arms around you for a brief moment.
Katherine MansfieldRead
When someone you love dies, and you're not expecting it, you don't lose her all at once; you lose her in pieces over a long time—the way the mail stops coming, and her scent fades from the pillows and even from the clothes in her closet and drawers. Gradually, you accumulate the parts of her that are gone. Just when the day comes—when there's a particular missing part that overwhelms you with the feeling that she's gone, forever—there comes another day, and another specifically missing part.
John IrvingRead
Hall of Love has ten thousand swords. Don't be afraid to use one.
RumiRead
She rested her head against his and felt, for the first time, what she would often feel with him: a self-affection. He made her like herself. With him, she was at ease; her skin felt as though it was her right size.. It seemed so natural, to talk to him about odd things. She had never done that before. The trust, so sudden and yet so complete, and the intimacy, frightened her.. But now she could think only of all the things she yet wanted to tell him, wanted to do with him.
Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieRead
Through all of youth I was looking for you_x000D_ without knowing what I was looking for_x000D_ part memory part distance remaining _x000D_ mine in the ways that I learn to miss you_x000D_ from what we cannot hold the stars are made.
W. S. MerwinRead