What scares me is what scares you. We're all afraid of the same things. That's why horror is such a powerful genre. All you have to do is ask yourself what frightens you and you'll know what frightens me.
John CarpenterRead
Monuments! what are they? the very pyramids have forgotten their builders, or to whom they were dedicated. Deeds, not stones, are the true monuments of the great.
Interpretation
True greatness is measured by actions rather than physical memorials.
In this quote, John Lothrop Motley emphasizes the transient nature of physical monuments, such as pyramids, which even history forgets over time. He suggests that the true legacy of a person lies in their deeds and contributions to society, rather than the stone structures that might commemorate them. The essence of greatness is found in the impact one has made in the world, which outlasts any monument created in their honor.
In practice
During a speech at a memorial service, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of actions over accolades.
What scares me is what scares you. We're all afraid of the same things. That's why horror is such a powerful genre. All you have to do is ask yourself what frightens you and you'll know what frightens me.
No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts off from its youth severs its lifeline.
Straight ahead you can't go very far.
Everything is autobiography, even if one writes something that is totally objective. The fact that it's a subject that seizes you makes it autobiographical.
Write about this man who, drop by drop, squeezes the slave's blood out of himself until he wakes one day to find the blood of a real human being--not a slave's--coursing through his veins.
The true perfection of man lies not in what man has, but in what man is.
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