There are many things which we can afford to forget which it is yet well to learn.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
Even a dog distinguishes between being stumbled over and being kicked.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the difference between accidental harm and deliberate cruelty.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. suggests that living beings, much like a dog, can perceive the intent behind actions. Accidental actions, such as stumbling over someone, are understood as harmless mistakes, while intentional acts, like kicking, are recognized as harmful and malicious. This distinction reinforces the idea that awareness of intent plays a crucial role in our experiences of pain and suffering.
Themes
IntentHarmKindnessAwareness
In practice
Example use cases
To emphasize the importance of intent in relationships during a discussion on conflict resolution.
More from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
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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.
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Beware how you take away hope from another human being.
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