Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
It is better to emit a scream in the shape of a theory than to be entirely insensible to the jars and incongruities of life and take everything as it comes in a forlorn stupidity.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that it's better to be actively engaged with life's challenges through thought and theory than to passively accept everything without understanding.
Robert Louis Stevenson emphasizes the importance of awareness and critical thinking in the face of life's inconsistencies and difficulties. Rather than being complacently indifferent and accepting circumstances as they are, he advocates for a proactive approach where exploring ideas and theories can provide clarity and insight into our experiences.
Themes
TheoryAwarenessLifeEngagementThinking
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about embracing challenges, this quote can illustrate the need for critical analysis.
More from Robert Louis Stevenson
All quotes →Like a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memories survive in time of sorrow.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
His past was fairly blameless; few men could read the rolls of their life with less apprehension; yet he was humbled to the dust by the many ill things he had done, and raised up again into sober and fearful gratitude by the many he had come so near to doing, yet avoided.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
The habit of being happy enables one to be freed, or largely freed, from the domination of outward conditions.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
It is the history of our kindnesses that alone make this world tolerable. If it were not for that, for the effect of kind words, kind looks, kind letters . . . I should be inclined to think our life a practical jest in the worst possible spirit.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
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