We ought not to extract pernicious honey from poison blossoms of misrepresentation and mendacious half-truth, to pamper the course appetite of bigotry and self-love.
Samuel Taylor ColeridgeRead
Swans sing before they die - 'twere no bad thing should certain persons die before they sing.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that some individuals should express themselves or share their true feelings before facing mortality.
In this quote, Coleridge reflects on the idea that swans sing beautifully just before they die, signifying the importance of expression and closure. The latter part hints at the notion that some individuals, who may not contribute positively or meaningfully, would benefit from expressing their thoughts and emotions before their time comes, thereby advocating for authenticity and meaningful expression in life.
Themes
ExpressionMortalityAuthenticityClosure
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of expressing one's feelings in relationships.
More from Samuel Taylor Coleridge
All quotes βCommon sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Samuel Taylor ColeridgeRead
And all who heard should see them there, And all should cry, Beware! Beware! His flashing eyes, his floating hair! Weave a circle round him thrice, And close your eyes with holy dread, For he on honey-dew hath fed, And drunk the milk of Paradise.
Samuel Taylor ColeridgeRead
Often do the spirits stride on before the event; and in today already walks tomorrow.
Samuel Taylor ColeridgeRead
Mr. Lyell's system of geology is just half the truth, and no more. He affirms a great deal that is true, and he denies a great deal which is equally true; which is the general characteristic of all systems not embracing the whole truth.
Samuel Taylor ColeridgeRead
To believe and to understand are not diverse things, but the same things in different periods of growth.
Samuel Taylor ColeridgeRead
Similar quotes
When all the faces have been rejected and emptiness is left, you have found the original face. Emptiness is the original face. Zero is the ultimate experience. Nothingness - or more accurately NO-THINGNESS - is your original face.
RajneeshRead
The way of paradoxes is the way of truth. To test Reality we must see it on the tight-rope.
Oscar WildeRead
Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth.
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
My films are expressive of a culture that has had the possibility of attaining material fulfillment while at the same time finding itself unable to accomplish the simple business of conducting human lives. We have been sold a bill of goods as a substitute for life. What is needed is reassurance in human emotions; a re-evaluation of our emotional capacities.
John CassavetesRead
Do not neglect this body. This is the house of God; take care of it, only in this body can God be realized.
Sri Nisargadatta MaharajRead
The fact is that the more we take flight upward [to God], the more our words are confined to the ideas we are capable of forming; so that now as we plunge into that darkness which is beyond intellect, we shall find ourselves not simply running short of words but actually speechless and unknowing.
Pope DionysiusRead