Nature never appeals to intelligence until habit and instinct are useless. There is no intelligence where there is no need of change.
H. G. WellsRead
I stood staring, not as yet realising that this was death leaping from man to man in that little distant crowd.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the realization of death's omnipresence and its impact on humanity.
In this quote, H. G. Wells illustrates a moment of profound awareness where the speaker observes a crowd, not yet fully grasping that death is an inevitable force connecting all human beings. It serves as a contemplation on the fragility of life and how death can suddenly invade moments of normalcy, prompting a deeper reflection on existence and mortality.
Themes
DeathHumanityMortalityExistenceAwareness
In practice
Example use cases
During a memorial service, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of recognizing the fragility of life.
More from H. G. Wells
All quotes →He spares no resource in telling of his dead inventions... Bare verbs he rarely tolerates. He splits infinitives and fills them up with adverbial stuffing. He presses the passing colloquialism into his service. His vast paragraphis sweat and struggle; the
H. G. WellsRead
It [a new world order] needs only that the governments of Britain, the United States, France, Germany, and Russia should get together in order to set up an effective control of currency, credit, production, and distribution – that is to say, an effective ‘dictatorship of prosperity,’ for the whole world. The other sixty odd States would have to join in or accommodate themselves to the over-ruling decisions of these major Powers.
H. G. WellsRead
Things that would have made fame of a less clever man seemed tricks in his hands. It is a mistake to do things too easily.
H. G. WellsRead
But I was too restless to watch long; I'm too Occidental for a long vigil. I could work at a problem for years, but to wait inactive for twenty-four hours - that's another matter.
H. G. WellsRead
The greatest task of democracy, its ritual and feast - is choice.
H. G. WellsRead
Similar quotes
When I was a boy, the Sioux owned the world. The sun rose and set on their land; they sent ten thousand men to battle. Where are the warriors today? Who slew them? Where are our lands? Who owns them?
Sitting BullRead
When human affairs are so ordered that there is no recognition of God, there is a belittling of man. That is why, in the final analysis, worship and law cannot be completely separated from each other. God has a right to a response from man, to man himself, and where that right of God totally disappears, the order of law among men is dissolved, because there is no cornerstone to keep the whole structure together.
Pope Benedict XviRead
The creature that wins against its environment destroys itself.
Gregory BatesonRead
Our actions are like ships which we may watch set out to sea, and not know when or with what cargo they will return to port.
Iris MurdochRead
Whenever power is used for evil, it becomes diabolical; it must be used for good only.
Swami VivekanandaRead
There is my father whispering in my ear, Be still still still. And yet you change everything. What was the marsh like, waiting for the storm before you came and kneeled in the water? It was nothing. Watch after you leave the water, now cold and regretful, miles from home, certain of the belt on your backside, the cold shoulder, the extra chores; watch. Watch the water heal itself of your presence--not to repair injury but to offer itself again should you care to risk another strapping [...].
Paul HardingRead