There are many things which we can afford to forget which it is yet well to learn.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
Beware how you take away hope from another human being.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of preserving hope in others, as it is a vital aspect of their well-being.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. captures the essence of empathy and compassion in this quote, warning against actions that could diminish the hope of others. Hope is a fundamental part of human existence, providing motivation and resilience; thus, one should be cautious in how their words and actions can impact another's mental and emotional state.
Themes
HopeCompassionEmpathyWell-BeingHumanity
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech to encourage resilience in difficult times.
More from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
All quotes βOn the whole, I am on the side of the unregenerate who affirms the worth of life as an end in itself, as against the saints who deny it.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
If you don't know what you want, you will probably never get it.
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Why should you row a boat race? Why endure the long months of pain in preparation for a fierce half hour that will leave you all but dead? Does anyone ask the question? Is there anyone who would not go through all the costs, and more, for the moment when anguish breaks into triumph or even for the glory of having nobly lost? Is life less than a boat race? If a man will give the blood in his body to win the one, will he spend all the might of his soul to prevail in the other?
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The main part of intellectual education is not the acquisition of facts, but learning how to make facts live.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
If there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other it is the principle of free thought, not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought that we hate.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
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