The world is a kind of spiritual kindergarten where millions of bewildered infants are trying to spell "God" with the wrong blocks.
Edwin Arlington RobinsonRead
Pity is like a knife, sometimes, and it may pierce one who employs it more shrewdly than the victim it would save.
Interpretation
Pity can often harm both the one who feels it and the one it is directed towards.
This quote by Edwin Arlington Robinson suggests that pity, while intended to be a compassionate response, can act like a sharp knife. It implies that in expressing pity, the person giving it can unintentionally cause more harm or reveal their own vulnerabilities, making them more affected by the emotions involved than the person they feel pity for.
In practice
In a conversation about compassion, I referenced the quote to illustrate the complexities of pity.
The world is a kind of spiritual kindergarten where millions of bewildered infants are trying to spell "God" with the wrong blocks.
The stillness of October gold_x000D_ _x000D_ Went out like beauty from a face.
And thus we all are nighing The truth we fear to know: Death will end our crying For friends that come and go.
Being smarter gives you a tailwind throughout life. People who are more intelligent earn more, live longer, get divorced less, are less likely to get addicted to alcohol and tobacco, and their children live longer.
It's important that we share our experiences with other people. Your story will heal you and your story will heal somebody else. When you tell your story, you free yourself and give other people permission to acknowledge their own story
My brain and body and nervous system, they see a plane ride, a long plane trip, as an opportunity to sleep with nothing coming in, nothing to do. I just go offline the minute I'm on the plane.
Like a bird with broken wing_x000D_ _x000D_ that has traveled through wind for years . . ._x000D_ _x000D_ I sleep and my heart stays awake . . .
A bad day for the ego is a good day for the soul.
Past is dead Future is uncertain; Present is all you have, So eat, drink and live merry.
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