Men speak of dreaming as if it were a phenomenon of night and sleep. They should know better. All results achieved by us are self-promised, and all self-promises are made in dreams awake. Dreaming is the relief of labor,the wine that sustains us in act. We learn to love labor, not for itself, but for the opportunity it furnishes for dreaming, which is the great under-monotone of real life, unheard, unnoticed, because of its constancy. Living is dreaming. Only in the graves are there no dreams.
Interpretation
Dreaming is a vital part of living and achieving, transcending mere night visions.
This quote emphasizes that dreaming is not merely confined to sleep; it is integral to our waking lives and aspirations. Lew Wallace suggests that all our accomplishments originate from our ability to dream while awake, providing motivation and purpose to our labor. The quote also posits that dreaming is essential for a meaningful life, as it sustains our efforts and fuels our passions, highlighting how dreams permeate our existence, making life a continuous journey of aspiration.
In practice
During a motivational speech, one might evoke this quote to inspire creativity and perseverance in a workforce.
I know what I should love to do - to build a study; to write, and to think of nothing else. I want to bury myself in a den of books. I want to saturate myself with the elements of which they are made, and breathe their atmosphere until I am of it. Not a bookworm, being which is to give off no utterances; but a man in the world of writing - one with a pen that shall stop men to listen to it, whether they wish to or not.
I remember the initial genesis quite clearly. My interest in dreams comes from this notion of realizing that when you dream you create the world that you are perceiving, and I thought that feedback loop was pretty amazing.
Beauty in things exists in the mind which contemplates them.
The passing of time and all of its crimes is making me sad again. The passing of time and all of its sickening crimes is making me sad again. But don't forget the songs that made you cry and the songs that saved your life.. Yes, you're older now and you're a clever swine. But they were the only ones who ever stood by you
The essential idea of Stoicism in my interpretation is, you don't control the world around you, you control how you respond. At 19, that's very empowering.
Of all studies, the one he would rather have avoided was that of his own mind. He knew no tragedy so heartrending as introspection.
Yesterday is ever jealous of...tomorrow.
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