I thought it very touching to see these two women, coarse and shabby and beaten, so united; to see what they could be to one another; to see how they felt for one another, how the heart of each to each was softened by the hard trials of their lives. I think the best side of such people is almost hidden from us. What the poor are to the poor is little known, excepting to themselves and God.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the deep bond and empathy shared between individuals facing hardship.
In this reflection, Charles Dickens emphasizes the profound connection that can exist between those who endure struggles and adversities together. He observes two women who, despite their coarse and shabby appearances, display a touching unity that reveals the resilience and compassion of the human spirit. Dickens suggests that the true essence of these friendships formed in hardship is often unnoticed by the outside world, yet it is profoundly meaningful to those who share it, understood only by themselves and the divine.
In practice
During a speech about community support, one might use this quote to illustrate the importance of friendship in overcoming adversity.
I recollected one story there was in the village, how that on a certain night in the year (it might be that very night for anything I knew), all the dead people came out of the ground and sat at the heads of their own graves till morning.
A silent look of affection and regard when all other eyes are turned coldly away-the consciousness that we possess the sympathy and affection of one being when all others have deserted us-is a hold, a stay, a comfort, in the deepest affliction, which no wealth could purchase, or power bestow.
Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried, than before--more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle.
There are not a few among the disciples of charity who require, in their vocation, scarcely less excitement than the votaries of pleasure in theirs.
You might, from your appearance, be the wife of Lucifer,” said Miss Pross, in her breathing. “Nevertheless, you shall not get the better of me. I am an Englishwoman.
Christmas is a poor excuse every 25th of December to pick a man's pockets.
Friends: not one. Just a few acquaintances who imagine they feel something for me and who might be sorry if a train ran over me and the funeral was on a rainy day.
The correction of silence is what kills; when you know you have transgressed, and your friend says nothing, and avoids your eye.
Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.
When I went to San Francisco in that cold late spring of 1967, I did not even know what I wanted to find out, and so I just stayed around a while and made a few friends.
If hatred strikes you, if you get accused, thrown to the lions, you can expect one of two reactions from people who know you: some of them will join in the kill, the others will discreetly pretend to know nothing, hear nothing, so you can go right on seeing them and talking to them. That second category, discreet and tactful, those are your friends. 'Friends' in the modern sense of the term. Listen, Jean-Marc, I've known that forever.
Old friendships are like meats served up repeatedly, cold, comfortless, and distasteful. The stomach turns against them.
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