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A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back when it begins to rain.
Robert Frost
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote humorously criticizes banks for being helpful only when conditions are favorable, while taking back their assistance in difficult times.

In this quote, Robert Frost uses a metaphor to illustrate how banks operate: they provide aid and support when it is least needed, much like lending an umbrella on a sunny day. However, once trouble arises, represented by 'rain,' they quickly retract that help, highlighting the often self-serving nature of financial institutions and their reluctance to assist in times of adversity.

Themes

BanksFinanceHumorHelpAdversity

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could be used in a discussion about the financial industry's role during economic crises.

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For, dear me, why abandon a belief, Merely because it ceases to be true, Cling to it long enough, and not a doubt, It will turn true again, for so it goes.
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The question that he frames in all but words is what to make of a diminished thing.
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