The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.
Thomas CarlyleRead
I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a desire to lead a life full of activity and purpose rather than to live passively and unfulfilled.
Thomas Carlyle's quote highlights the importance of living a vigorous and engaged life. He emphasizes that he would prefer the exhaustion that comes from pursuing ambition and passion over the dullness and lack of excitement that can accompany boredom. This reflects a deeper philosophical view on the meaning of life, where activity and engagement are valued over mere existence.
Themes
AmbitionExhaustionBoredomLifeActivity
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about pursuing one's passions, one might say, 'As Thomas Carlyle puts it, I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom.'
More from Thomas Carlyle
All quotes βThirty millions, mostly fools.
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There is a great discovery still to be made in literature, that of paying literary men by the quantity they do not write.
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For the superior morality, of which we hear so much, we too would desire to be thankful: at the same time, it were but blindness to deny that this superior morality is properly rather an inferior criminality, produced not by greater love of Virtue, but by greater perfection of Police; and of that far subtler and stronger Police, called Public Opinion.
Thomas CarlyleRead
Enjoying things which are pleasant; that is not the evil; it is the reducing of our moral self to slavery by them that is.
Thomas CarlyleRead
Clean undeniable right, clear undeniable might: either of these once ascertained puts an end to battle. All battle is a confused experiment to ascertain one and both of these.
Thomas CarlyleRead
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