Admire and adore the Author of the telescopic universe, love and esteem the work, do all in your power to lessen ill, and increase good, but never assume to comprehend.
John AdamsRead
A desire to be observed, considered, esteemed, praised, beloved, and admired by his fellows is one of the earliest as well as the keenest dispositions discovered in the heart of man.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Humans have an inherent desire to be valued and recognized by others.
This quote by John Adams speaks to the fundamental human need for recognition and approval from our peers. It suggests that being acknowledged and esteemed by others is a deep-seated aspect of human nature, indicating our social instincts and emotional connections to the world around us.
Themes
DesireRecognitionEsteemAdmirationHuman Nature
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about community, one might use this quote to underline the importance of mutual recognition in relationships.
More from John Adams
All quotes βProperty monopolized or in the possession of a few is a curse to mankind.
John AdamsRead
Let us dare to read, think, speak and write.
John AdamsRead
There are two ways to conquer and enslave a country. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.
John AdamsRead
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
John AdamsRead
The furnace of affliction produces refinement, in states as well as individuals.
John AdamsRead
Similar quotes
Compassion is the ability to understand how difficult it is for people to be the best of what they want to be at all times.
Joan D. ChittisterRead
Like a large number of men, I, too, have had homosexual experiences and I am not ashamed. But if there is someone who is convinced that Jack Nicholson and I are lovers, may they continue to do so. I find it amusing.
Marlon BrandoRead
As I turned away, I saw Holmes, with his back against a rock and his arms folded, gazing down at the rush of the waters. It was the last that I was ever destined to see of him in this world. - Watson.
Arthur Conan DoyleRead
A marriage is a private thing. It has its own wild laws, and secret histories, and savage acts, and what passes between married people is incomprehensible to outsiders. We look terrible to you, and severe, and you see our blood flying, but what we carry between us is hard-won, and we made it just as we wished it to be, just the color, just the shape.
Catherynne M. ValenteRead
No other group in America has so had their identity socialized out of existence as have black women... When black people are talked about the focus tends to be on black men; and when women are talked about the focus tends to be on white women.
Bell HooksRead
Refecting on the high divorce rate in America as contrasted with England "American women expect to find in their husbands a perfection that English women only hope to find in their butlers
W. Somerset MaughamRead