...the routine of life goes on, whatever happens, we do the same things, go through the little performance of eating, sleeping, washing. No crisis can break through the crust of habit.
Interpretation
Life continues with its daily routines despite any crisis we may face.
This quote emphasizes the resilience of human nature in the face of adversity. It suggests that no matter what crises may come our way, the fundamental routines of everyday life—such as eating, sleeping, and personal care—carry on. This habitual nature provides stability and continuity, illustrating the power of routine as a comforting force in turbulent times.
In practice
In a speech about coping mechanisms during difficult times, this quote could illustrate how routines help us maintain stability.
here was a silence between them for a moment, and she wondered if all women, when in love, were torn between two impulses, a longing to throw modesty and reserve to the winds and confess everything, and an equal determination to conceal the love forever, to be cool, aloof, utterly detached, to die rather than admit a thing so personal, so intimate.
She had to live in this bright, red gabled house with the nurse until it was time for her to die... I thought how little we know about the feelings of old people. Children we understand, their fears and hopes and make-believe.
We are all ghosts of yesterday, and the phantom of tomorrow awaits us alike in sunshine or in shadow, dimly perceived at times, never entirely lost.
How pleasant,' Dona said, peeling her fruit; 'the rest of us can only run away from time to time, and however much we pretend to be free, we know it is only for a little while - our hands and our feet are tied.
A familiar name on its own, however, does not carry its bearer far unless the talent is there, and the will to work.
Here was the freedom I desired, long sought-for, not yet known Freedom to write, to walk, to wander, freedom to climb hills, to pull a boat, to be alone.
You create a world away from home and make new rooms for yourself. But when you arrive back home in your old rooms, the world you've made for yourself ceases to be real. Everything seems to crumble. Anyone who's been sent away to boarding school can understand that.
But this time I'm not to blame; I want you to believe that. I simply slipped into those violets. No, I want to be really truthful. I am a little to blame. The sky, you know, was gold, and the ground all blue, and for a moment he looked like some one in a book.
One of the things that has helped me as much as any other is not how long I am going to live, but how much I can do while living.
Like roots finding water, we always wind up moving towards what sustains us.
The best way to make room for both life and career is to make choices deliberately-to set limits and stick to them.
Anybody who says, 'My childhood was completely happy,' is a person who isn't remembering the truth.
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