Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
Since hate poisons the soul, don't cherish enmities or grudges: avoid people who make you unhappy.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Hate is harmful to one's well-being, so it's best to distance oneself from negative influences.
This quote emphasizes the detrimental effects of hate and negativity on the human spirit. Robert Louis Stevenson advises against holding onto grudges or enmities, suggesting that one should seek happiness by avoiding those who bring unhappiness into their lives. By doing so, individuals nurture their own peace and emotional health.
Themes
HateHappinessRelationshipsGrudgesNegativity
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about mental health, you could cite this quote to discuss the importance of surrounding oneself with positive people.
More from Robert Louis Stevenson
All quotes →Like a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memories survive in time of sorrow.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
His past was fairly blameless; few men could read the rolls of their life with less apprehension; yet he was humbled to the dust by the many ill things he had done, and raised up again into sober and fearful gratitude by the many he had come so near to doing, yet avoided.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
The habit of being happy enables one to be freed, or largely freed, from the domination of outward conditions.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
It is the history of our kindnesses that alone make this world tolerable. If it were not for that, for the effect of kind words, kind looks, kind letters . . . I should be inclined to think our life a practical jest in the worst possible spirit.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
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