Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.
Alexander PopeRead
The season when to come, and when to go, to sing, or cease to sing, we never know.
Interpretation
We often lack knowledge about the right timing for our actions in life.
This quote reflects on the uncertainty of life and the unpredictability of timing in our actions, such as when to engage or withdraw, express joy or silence our feelings. It suggests that despite our efforts to foresee the best moments to act, we cannot always know the right time to pursue our passions or remain still.
In practice
Use this quote in a speech about the unpredictability of life and making choices.
Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.
What dire offence from am'rous causes springs, What mighty contests rise from trivial things.
Fair tresses man's imperial race ensnare; And beauty draws us with a single hair.
An honest man's the noblest work of God.
One thought of thee puts all the pomp to flight;_x000D_ _x000D_ Priests, tapers, temples, swim before my sight.
Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?
Man was created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord and in this way to save his soul. The other things on Earth were created for man's use, to help him reach the end for which he was created.
They say it grows so cold up here in winter that a manβs laughter freezes in his throat and chokes him to death,β Ned said evenly. βPerhaps that is why the Starks have so little humor.
But women do not say 'We', except at some congress of feminists or similar formal demonstration; men say 'women', and women use the same word in referring to themselves.
We are the makers of our own lives. There is no such thing as fate. Our lives are the result of our previous actions, our karma, and it naturally flows that, having been ourselves the makers of our karma, we must also be able to unmake it.
Gentleman, you have come sixty days too late. The depression is over.
Life off Earth is in two important respects not at all unworldly: you can choose to focus on the surprises and pleasures, or the frustrations. And you can choose to appreciate the smallest scraps of experience, the everyday moments, or to value only the grandest, most stirring ones.
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