QuoteProject
You have grown abominably lazy, and you like gossip, and waste time on frivolous things, you are contented to be petted and admired by silly people, instead of being loved and respected by wise ones.
Louisa May Alcott
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote criticizes superficiality and encourages seeking deeper, more meaningful relationships.

Louisa May Alcott's quote highlights the dangers of leading a life focused on superficial relationships and fleeting pleasures. It calls out those who prefer the comfort of being admired by those who lack depth, rather than earning the respect and love of wiser individuals. In essence, it emphasizes the importance of valuing genuine connections over shallow admiration.

Themes

WisdomRelationshipsSuperficialityRespectGossip

In practice

Example use cases

During a motivational speech about the importance of meaningful relationships.

More from Louisa May Alcott

Women have been called queens for a long time, but the kingdom given them isn't worth ruling.
Louisa May AlcottRead
"Stay" is a charming word in a friend's vocabulary.
Louisa May AlcottRead
... swept into the giddy vortex which keeps so many young people revolving aimlessly, till they go down or are cast upon the shore, wrecks of what they might have been
Louisa May AlcottRead
Simple, genuine goodness is the best capital to found the business of this life upon. It lasts when fame and money fail, and is the only riches we can take out of this world with us.
Louisa May AlcottRead
It takes two flints to make a fire.
Louisa May AlcottRead
You are the gull, Jo, strong and wild, fond of the storm and the wind, flying far out to sea, and happy all alone.
Louisa May AlcottRead

Similar quotes

Time waste differs from material waste in that there can be no salvage. The easiest of all wastes and the hardest to correct is the waste of time, because wasted time does not litter the floor like wasted material.
Henry FordRead
Growing up on the plantation there in Mississippi, I would work Monday through Saturday noon. I'd go to town on Saturday afternoons, sit on the street corner, and I'd sing and play.
B. B. KingRead
The first real terror struck him then, and there was nothing supernatural about it. It was only a realization of how easy it was to trash your life. That was what was so scary. You just dragged the fan up to everything you had spent the years raking together and turned the motherfucker on.
Stephen KingRead
But neither of us knows, because a fight's worth nothing if you know from the start that you're going to win it.
Markus ZusakRead
I saved a man's life once," said Granny. "Special medicine, twice a day. Boiled water with a bit of berry juice in it. Told him I'd bought it from the dwarves. That's the biggest part of doct'rin, really. Most people'll get over most things if they put their minds to it, you just have to give them an interest.
Terry PratchettRead
There are people of spirit and there are people of passion, both less common than one might think. Rarer still are the people of spirit and passion. But rarest of all is a passionable spirit.
Martin BuberRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.