The good are better made by ill, As odours crushed are sweeter still.
Samuel RogersRead
Almost all men are over anxious. No sooner do they enter the world than they lose that taste for natural and simple pleasures so remarkable in early life. Every hour do they ask themselves what progress they have made in the pursuit of wealth or honor and on they go as their fathers went before them till weary and sick at heart they look back with a sigh of regret to the golden time of their childhood.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on how people often lose appreciation for simple pleasures in pursuit of success and wealth as they grow older.
Samuel Rogers articulates the melancholy of adulthood, where the simple joys of childhood are replaced by an obsessive pursuit of material gain and societal status. He suggests that this change leads to a disconnection from what truly brings happiness, often resulting in regret as one reflects on the lost innocence and joy of youth. The quote serves as a reminder to cherish and nurture the simple pleasures in life that are often overshadowed by adult responsibilities and ambitions.
Themes
LifeWealthRegretHappinessChildhoodPleasures
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational talk about life choices, one might quote this to encourage people to appreciate simplicity.
More from Samuel Rogers
All quotes →Sweet Memory! wafted by thy gentle gale, Oft up the stream of Time I turn my sail.
Samuel RogersRead
Similar quotes
your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.
Anthony BourdainRead
My books are about ordinary people, like you, me, people on the street, people who really have an expectation of reasonable happiness in life, want their life to have a sense of security and predictability, who want to belong to something bigger than them, who want love and affection in their life, who want a good future for the children.
Khaled HosseiniRead
I think of my life as a unity of circles. Some are concentric, others overlap, but they all connect in some way. Sometimes the connections don't happen for years. But when they do, I marvel. As in a shimmering kaleidoscope, familiar patterns keep unfolding
Dorothy HeightRead
A broom is drearily sweeping up the broken pieces of yesterday's life.
Jimi HendrixRead
You can't have it all all at once. Over my lifespan, I think I have had it all, but in given periods in time, things were rough. And if you have a caring life partner, you help the other person when that person needs it.
Ruth Bader GinsburgRead
Well, I think that part of being young is not exactly knowing why you do some of the things that you do. And it's by exploring your life or experimenting or making mistakes and learning from them hopefully that you start to forge an identity.
Stephen ChboskyRead