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There's one sad truth in life I've found While journeying east and west - The only folks we really wound Are those we love the best. We flatter those we scarcely know, We please the fleeting guest, And deal full many a thoughtless blow To those who love us best.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
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Interpretation

What this quote means

We often hurt those we are closest to, rather than those we barely know.

This quote reflects the unfortunate reality that in our interactions, we tend to take our closest relationships for granted, sometimes causing emotional harm to those we love the most. It highlights the contrast between how we treat strangers and loved ones, emphasizing the need for mindfulness and care in our closest relationships.

Themes

LoveHurtRelationshipsCareMindfulness

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could be shared in a conversation about the importance of nurturing relationships with family and friends.

More from Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Sweep up the debris of decaying faith; _x000D_ Sweep down the cobwebs of worn-out out beliefs, _x000D_ And throw your soul wide open to the light of reason and of knowledge. _x000D_ Be not afraid _x000D_ To thrust aside half-truths and grasp the whole.
Ella Wheeler WilcoxRead
I am the voice of the voiceless; Through me the dumb shall speak. Till the deaf world's ears be made to hear. The wrongs of the wordless weak. And I am my brothers keeper, And I will fight his fights; And speak the words for beast and bird. Till the world shall set things right.
Ella Wheeler WilcoxRead
A weed is but an unloved flower.
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So many gods, so many creeds, so many paths that wind and wind while just the art of being kind is all the sad world needs.
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'Tis easy enough to be pleasant, When life flows along like a song; But the man worth while is the one who will smile when everything goes dead wrong.
Ella Wheeler WilcoxRead
Do you wish the world were happy? Then remember day by day, just to scatter seeds of kindness as you pass along the way. . . .
Ella Wheeler WilcoxRead

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