Christmas is a time in which, of all times in the year, the memory of every remediable sorrow, wrong, and trouble in the world around us, should be active with us, not less than our own experiences, for all good.
Interpretation
Christmas encourages us to reflect on and address the sorrows and troubles of others, fostering goodwill and empathy.
In this quote, Charles Dickens highlights the essence of Christmas as a time for reflection and compassion, urging individuals to not only remember their own hardships but also to be mindful of the collective troubles faced by others. He suggests that during this festive season, we should actively engage with the memories of those who suffer, encouraging a sense of responsibility and goodwill towards making the world a better place.
In practice
Using the quote in a holiday speech to encourage community support for those in need.
I recollected one story there was in the village, how that on a certain night in the year (it might be that very night for anything I knew), all the dead people came out of the ground and sat at the heads of their own graves till morning.
A silent look of affection and regard when all other eyes are turned coldly away-the consciousness that we possess the sympathy and affection of one being when all others have deserted us-is a hold, a stay, a comfort, in the deepest affliction, which no wealth could purchase, or power bestow.
Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried, than before--more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle.
There are not a few among the disciples of charity who require, in their vocation, scarcely less excitement than the votaries of pleasure in theirs.
You might, from your appearance, be the wife of Lucifer,” said Miss Pross, in her breathing. “Nevertheless, you shall not get the better of me. I am an Englishwoman.
Christmas is a poor excuse every 25th of December to pick a man's pockets.
A person's tragedy does not make up their entire life. A story carves deep grooves into our brains each time we tell it. But we aren't one story. We can change our stories. We can write our own.
I cling to my imperfection, as the very essence of my being.
Bribes are not offered in such a way that you can prove them, and in order to prove that I didn't accept a bribe, I had to run.
People couldn't become truly holy, he said, unless they also had the opportunity to be definitively wicked.
We forget that, although each of the liberties which have been won must be defended with utmost vigour, the problem of freedom is not only a quantitative one, but a qualitative one; that we not only have to preserve and increase the traditional freedom, but that we have to gain a new kind of freedom, one which enables us to realize our own individual self; to have faith in this self and in life.
Life is an unanswered question, but let's still believe in the dignity and importance of the question.
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