One feels as if it could never, never be less. And yet all griefs, when there is no bitterness in them, are soothed down by time.
Interpretation
Time has a way of healing emotional pain and grief, especially when it is accepted without resentment.
This quote reflects the idea that grief often feels overwhelming and unending at the moment, but with the passage of time, it tends to become more bearable, particularly when one adopts a mindset free of bitterness. It suggests that while grief can be profound, it is not a permanent state, as the healing process does take place, allowing individuals to find solace and peace over time.
In practice
In a speech about overcoming loss, one might say, 'As Jane Welsh Carlyle wisely noted, while it feels like grief will last forever, time helps us heal.'
Does not a man physically tremble under the mere look of a wild beast or fellow-man that is stronger than himself? Does not a woman redden all over when she feels her lover's eyes on her? How then should one doubt the mysterious power of one individual over another?
How many precious things do we not already possess which others have not - have hardly an idea of! Let us enjoy these, then, and bless God that we are permitted to enjoy them, rather than importune His goodness with vain longings for more.
The surest way to get a thing in this life is to be prepared for doing without it, to the exclusion even of hope.
I declare I would rather be a kitten and cry, 'Mew!' than live as I see many of my female acquaintances do, tearing each other's characters to pieces, and wearing out their lives in vanity and vexation of spirit.
But what are friends? What is a husband, even, compared with one's Mother? Of her love, one is always so sure! It is the only love that nothing - not even misconduct on our part - can take away from us.
Never does one feel oneself so utterly helpless as in trying to speak comfort for great bereavement.
Any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still know where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.
All must admit that the reception of the teachings of Christ results in the purest patriotism, in the most scrupulous fidelity to public trust, and in the best type of citizenship.
Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.... The subjection of individuals will increase amongst democratic nations, not only in the same proportion as their equality, but in the same proportion as their ignorance.
Whatever life takes away from you, let it go.
The success or failure of any historical age is the extent to which those living at that time have fulfilled the special role that history has imposed upon them.
Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror. The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing, have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness and a quiet, unyielding anger.
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