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You are too young to know how the world changes everyday,' said Mrs Creakle, 'and how the people in it pass away. But we all have to learn it, David; some of us when we are young, some of us when we are old, some of us at all times in our lives.
Charles Dickens
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote emphasizes the inevitability of change and the importance of understanding life's transience.

In this quote, Mrs. Creakle enlightens David about the continual changes in the world and the eventual loss of people, highlighting that this realization comes at different stages of life. It reflects the universal truth that every individual, regardless of age, must confront the reality of change, loss, and the passage of time, suggesting that wisdom is gained through life experiences over time.

Themes

ChangeWisdomLifeTransienceExperience

In practice

Example use cases

Opening a speech about the inevitability of change in life.

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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Christmas is a poor excuse every 25th of December to pick a man's pockets.
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