None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
I am sorry to think that you do not get a man's most effective criticism until you provoke him. Severe truth is expressed with some bitterness.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Critical insights often come out when someone is provoked, revealing deeper truths.
In this quote, Thoreau suggests that genuine criticism or insight about a person's character is often only revealed when that person is pushed or provoked. He highlights how harsh truths may carry a sense of bitterness, indicating that the delivery of such truths is often colored by emotions and context, reflecting the complexity of human interactions.
Themes
CriticismTruthProvocationBitternessInsight
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about ethics, one might quote Thoreau to emphasize the importance of honest critique.
More from Henry David Thoreau
All quotes →Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and selling and spending their lives like servants.
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Have no mean hours, but be grateful for every hour, and accept what it brings. The reality will make any sincere record respectable.
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As every season seems best to us in its turn, so the coming in of spring is like the creation of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age.
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That grand old poem called Winter
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