If two lives join, there is oft a scar. They are one and one, with a shadowy third; One near one is too far.
Robert BrowningRead
White shall not neutralize the black, nor good compensate bad in man, absolve him so; life's business being just the terrible choice.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the complexity of human nature, suggesting that good and evil cannot simply balance each other out.
Robert Browning's quote reflects on the inherent duality of human nature, indicating that one cannot negate or compensate for the other, whether it be good versus evil or black versus white. It emphasizes that life is fundamentally about making difficult choices, and that these choices are not about finding balance but rather confronting the harsh realities of existence.
Themes
Human NatureChoicesGood And EvilPhilosophyLife'S Complexities
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the moral dilemmas faced in leadership, one might quote this to illustrate the difficulty of making ethical decisions.
More from Robert Browning
All quotes βTis Man's to explore up and down, inch by inch, with the taper his reason.
Robert BrowningRead
I think, am sure, a brother's love exceeds_x000D_ _x000D_ All the world's loves in its unworldliness.
Robert BrowningRead
I dare not so honor my mere wishes and prayers as to put them for a moment beside your noble acts; but this know, I would rather submit to the worst of deaths, so far as pain goes, than have a single dog or cat tortured on the pretence of sparing me a twinge or two.
Robert BrowningRead
How well I know what I mean to do When the long dark Autumn evenings come, And where, my soul, is thy pleasant hue? With the music of all thy voices, dumb In lifeβs November too! I shall be found by the fire, suppose, Oβer a great wise book as beseemeth age, While the shutters flap as the cross-wind blows, And I turn the page, and I turn the page, Not verse now, only prose!
Robert BrowningRead
How good is life, the mere living!
Robert BrowningRead
Similar quotes
Do you understand now why books are hated and feared? Because they reveal the pores on the face of life. The comfortable people want only the faces of the full moon, wax, faces without pores, hairless, expressionless.
Ray BradburyRead
The purpose that you wish to find in life, like a cure you seek, is not going to fall from the sky. ...I believe purpose is something for which one is responsible; it's not just divinely assigned.
Michael J. FoxRead
When I grew up in the South, I was taught that segregation was the will of God, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. I was taught that women were by nature in inferior to men, and the Bible was quoted to prove it. I was taught that it was okay to hate other religions, and especially the Jews, and the Bible was quoted to prove it.
John Shelby SpongRead
Awareness is everything. Hallie once pointed out to me that people worry a lot more about the eternity *after* their deaths than the eternity that happened before they were born. But it's the same amount of infinity, rolling out in all directions from where we stand.
Barbara KingsolverRead
Tyler lies back and asks, "If Marilyn Monroe were alive right now, what would she be doing?" I say, goodnight. The headliner hangs down in shreds from the ceiling and Tyler says, "Clawing at the lid of her coffin.
Chuck PalahniukRead
If conversion to Christianity makes no improvement in a man's outward actions β if he continues to be just a snobbish or spiteful or envious or ambitious as he was before β then I think we must suspect that his 'conversion' was largely imaginary.
C. S. LewisRead