I'd rather have two good friends, than 500,000 admirers.
E. E. CummingsRead
i shall imagine life is not worth dying,if (and when)roses complain their beauties are in vain but though mankind persuades itself that every weed's a rose,roses(you feel certain)will only smile
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that life holds value despite struggles, and true beauty remains genuine and unaffected by false perceptions.
E. E. Cummings reflects on the complexity of life, indicating that even when faced with challenges or complaints, one should recognize the intrinsic worth of existence. The imagery of roses represents genuine beauty, contrasting with the idea that people might misinterpret or dilute this beauty by equating it with lesser things (weeds). Ultimately, true beauty endures and remains 'smiling' regardless of outside perceptions or comparisons.
Themes
LifeBeautyPerceptionStruggleValue
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared during a motivational speech about life's worth.
More from E. E. Cummings
All quotes βI'd rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.
E. E. CummingsRead
It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.
E. E. CummingsRead
When god decided to invent everything he took one reath bigger than a circustent and everything began
E. E. CummingsRead
The Artist is no other than he who unlearns what he has learned, in order to know himself.
E. E. CummingsRead
Nobody else can be alive for you; nor can you be alive for anybody else.
E. E. CummingsRead
Similar quotes
Where constraint breaks people, and mediation makes fools of them, the seduction of power is what makes them love their oppression. Because of it, people give up their real riches for a cause that mutilates them; for an appearance that reifies them; for roles that wrest them from authentic life; for a time whose passage defines and confines them.
Raoul VaneigemRead
The root of humanly caused evil is not man's animal nature, not territorial aggression, or innate selfishness, but our need to gain self-esteem, deny our mortality, and achieve a heroic self-image. Our desire for the best is the cause of the worst.
Sam KeenRead
All cities are mad: but the madness is gallant. All cities are beautiful: but the beauty is grim.
Christopher MorleyRead
I am not an angel," I asserted; "and I will not be one till I die: I will be myself.
Charlotte BronteRead
I do not believe that civilization will be wiped out in a war fought with the atomic bomb. Perhaps two-thirds of the people of the earth will be killed.
Albert EinsteinRead
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Thomas JeffersonRead