The central function of imaginative literature is to make you realize that other people act on moral convictions different from your own.
William EmpsonRead
Slowly the poison the whole blood stream fills. It is not the effort nor the failure tires. The waste remains, the waste remains and kills.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that negative experiences or failures can linger and have a lasting detrimental effect on an individual.
William Empson's quote reflects on the idea that failures and negative experiences can permeate one's overall well-being, like poison in a bloodstream. It emphasizes that it is not merely the act of trying or failing that wears one down, but rather the accumulation of unresolved pain and disappointment that continues to affect a person long after the initial events have passed.
Themes
FailurePainMental_HealthWellbeingRecovery
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about overcoming personal struggles.
More from William Empson
All quotes →Waiting for the end, boys, waiting for the end. _x000D_ What is there to be or do?_x000D_ What's become of me or you?_x000D_ Are we kind or are we true?_x000D_ Sitting two and two, boys, waiting for the end.
William EmpsonRead
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