Nothing raises the price of a blessing like its removal; whereas, it was its continuance which should have taught us its value. [It is wise to be grateful of what we have while we have it.]
Interpretation
We often realize the value of blessings only when they are gone.
This quote suggests that the true value of our blessings becomes apparent when we experience their absence. Instead of taking our blessings for granted, we should appreciate and express gratitude for them while they remain in our lives, as this recognition enhances our overall well-being and satisfaction.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of family, one could quote this to emphasize the need for appreciation.
Recently I have been working in the country, where, carving in the open air, I find sculpture more natural than in a London studio, but it needs bigger dimensions. A large piece of stone or wood placed almost anywhere at random in a field, orchard, or garden, immediately looks right and inspiring.
I find in all the artists that I admire most a disturbing element, a distortion, giving evidence of a struggle . . . . In great art, this conflict is hidden, it is unresolved. All that is bursting with energy is disturbing - not perfect.
Between beauty of expression and power of expression there is a difference of function. The first aims at pleasing the senses, the second has a spiritual vitality which for me is more moving and goes deeper than the senses.
A work can have in it a pent-up energy, an intense life of its own, independent of the subject it may represent.
I have always liked drawing, when you draw you see things more intensely.
The secret of life is to have a task, something you devote your entire life to, something you bring everything to, every minute of the day for the rest of your life. And the most important thing is, it must be something you cannot possibly do.
Unify your attention. Do not listen with your ears, but with your mind. Do not listen with your mind but with your essence.
Anger does not solve anything; it builds nothing.
We need to be willing to risk embarrassment, ask silly questions, surround ourselves with people who don't know what we're talking about. We need to leave behind the safety of our expertise.
Don't be too assuming, it doesn't get you anywhere.
Then, without realizing it, you try to improve yourself at the start of each new day; of course, you achieve quite a lot in the course of time. Anyone can do this, it costs nothing and is certainly very helpful. Whoever doesn't know it must learn and find by experience that a quiet conscience makes one strong.
Let experience, the least fallible guide of human opinion, be appealed to for an answer to these inquiries.
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