Nobody holds a good opinion of a man who has a low opinion of himself.
Anthony TrollopeRead
Nothing surely is as potent as a law that may not be disobeyed. It has the force of the water drop that hollows the stone. A small dainty task, if it be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the power of inevitable laws and the strength of consistent effort over sporadic actions.
In this quote, Anthony Trollope suggests that certain laws or principles are unbreakable and have immense influence, much like water that gradually wears down stone. He also highlights the effectiveness of consistent, small efforts over time, implying that steady dedication can achieve more than infrequent, forceful attempts, embodied by the metaphor of a 'spasmodic Hercules'.
Themes
LawConsistencyEffortPersistencePower
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about persistence in achieving personal goals.
More from Anthony Trollope
All quotes →Romance is very pretty in novels, but the romance of a life is always a melancholy matter. They are most happy who have no story to tell.
Anthony TrollopeRead
There is no happiness in love, except at the end of an English novel.
Anthony TrollopeRead
That I can read and be happy while I am reading, is a great blessing.
Anthony TrollopeRead
A man's love, till it has been chastened and fastened by the feeling of duty which marriage brings with it, is instigated mainly by the difficulty of pursuit.
Anthony TrollopeRead
But she knew this,—that it was necessary for her happiness that she should devote herself to some one. All the elegancies and outward charms of life were delightful, if only they could be used as the means to some end. As an end themselves they were nothing.
Anthony TrollopeRead
Similar quotes
What can the harvest hope for, if not for the care of the Reaper Man?
Terry PratchettRead
A God without dominion, providence, and final causes, is nothing else but fate and nature.
Alexander PopeRead
I believe we face the question: if not now, then when? And if we are grasped by this vision, we may also hear the question: If not us, then who? And if the gospel of Jesus is not the key to this task, then what is?
N. T. WrightRead
The only justification for our concepts and systems of concepts is that they serve to represent the complex of our experiences; beyond this they have not legitimacy.
Albert EinsteinRead
Faith is never identical with piety.
Karl BarthRead
Represent to yourself a dark city all burning and stinking with fire and brimstone. The damned are in the depth of hell within this woful city, where they suffer unspeakable torments in all their senses and members. Consider above all the eternity of their pains, which above all things makes hell intolerable.
Saint Francis De SalesRead