Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it
Mark TwainRead
It is a time when one’s spirit is subdued and sad, one knows not why; when the past seems a storm-swept desolation, life a vanity and a burden, and the future but a way to death. It is a time when one is filled with vague longings; when one dreams of flight to peaceful islands in the remote solitudes of the sea, or folds his hands and says, What is the use of struggling, and toiling and worrying any more? let us give it all up.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects a deep sense of melancholy and existential questioning about life and its struggles.
Mark Twain captures the essence of human despair and the feelings that accompany moments of profound sadness. He highlights a state of mind where one feels overwhelmed by life's challenges, leading to a longing for escape and introspection about the purpose of struggle. This sentiment resonates with anyone who has faced difficult times, expressing a universal battle with feelings of futility and the search for solace.
Themes
SadnessStruggleExistentialismReflectionDespair
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about overcoming adversity, you could use this quote to illustrate the common feeling of being overwhelmed by life's challenges.
More from Mark Twain
All quotes →The easy part of being an artist is figuring out the message that everyone else is ready to hear. The hard part is waiting for the proper lull to make the announcement.
Mark TwainRead
You can't reason with your heart; it has its own laws, and thumps about things which the intellect scorns.
Mark TwainRead
To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.
Mark TwainRead
Name the greatest of all inventors. Accident.
Mark TwainRead
In Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language.
Mark TwainRead
Similar quotes
Less isn't more; just enough is more.
Milton GlaserRead
I don't think exactly like a professional economist. I think about economics and economic ideas, but somewhat like an outsider.
John Forbes Nash, Jr.Read
You ask me why I dwell in the green mountain; I smile and make no reply for my heart is free of care. As the peach-blossom flows down stream and is gone into the unknown, I have a world apart that is not among men.
Li BaiRead
It is also possible for the unconscious or an archetype to take complete possession of a man and to determine his fate down to the smallest detail
Carl JungRead
Voyagers discover that the world can never be larger than the person that is in the world; but it is impossible to foresee this, it is impossible to be warned.
James A. BaldwinRead
[T]he delegation of the government, in [a republic], to a small number of citizens elected by the rest . . . [is] to refine and enlarge the public views by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations.
James MadisonRead