Love, whether newly born, or aroused from a deathlike slumber, must always create sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance, this it overflows upon the outward world.
Nathaniel HawthorneRead
If truth were everywhere to be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth on many a bosom.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the idea that everyone has hidden truths or sins that, if exposed, would cause shame.
In this quote, Nathaniel Hawthorne suggests that if our inner truths and secrets were publicly visible, many individuals would bear visible marks of shame for their actions or thoughts. The reference to a 'scarlet letter' symbolizes the societal branding of sin or moral failure, indicating that everyone has something they wish to hide from others.
Themes
TruthShameSecretsSocietyMorality
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about personal integrity, one might use this quote to illustrate the burden of hidden truths.
More from Nathaniel Hawthorne
All quotes βA bodily disease which we look upon as whole and entire within itself, may after all, be but a symptom of some ailment in the spiritual part.
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All merely graceful attributes are usually the most evanescent.
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There is so much wretchedness in the world, that we may safely take the word of any mortal professing to need our assistance; and, even should we be deceived, still the good to ourselves resulting from a kind act is worth more than the trifle by which we purchase it.
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Let men tremble to win the hand of woman, unless they win along with it the utmost passion of her heart! Else it may be their miserable fortune, when some mightier touch than their own may have awakened all her sensibilities, to be reproached even for the calm content, the marble image of happiness, which they will have imposed upon her as the warm reality.
Nathaniel HawthorneRead
The thing you set your mind on is the thing you ultimately become.
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