There are many sham diamonds in this life which pass for real, and vice versa.
William Makepeace ThackerayRead
Are not there little chapters in everybody's life, that seem to be nothing, and yet affect all the rest of the history?
Interpretation
Small, seemingly insignificant events can profoundly influence our lives.
In this quote, Thackeray reflects on the nature of life, suggesting that even the most mundane or minor events can have lasting impacts on our personal narratives. These 'little chapters' represent moments that, while not immediately recognized as important, shape our future experiences and the trajectory of our lives.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a graduation speech to emphasize the importance of every experience in shaping one's future.
There are many sham diamonds in this life which pass for real, and vice versa.
There's a great power of imagination about these little creatures, and a creative fancy and belief that is very curious to watch . . . I am sure that horrid matter-of-fact child-rearers . . . do away with the child's most beautiful privilege. I am determined that Anny shall have a very extensive and instructive store of learning in Tom Thumbs, Jack-the-Giant-Killers, etc.
When you look at me, when you think of me, I am in paradise.
And in those varieties of pain of which we spoke anon, what a part of confidante has that poor teapot played ever since the kindly plant was introduced among us! What myriads of women have cried over it, to be sure! What sickbeds it has smoked by! What fevered lips have received refreshment from out of it! Nature meant very gently by women when she made that teaplant; and with a little thought what a series of pictures and groups the fancy may conjure up and assemble round the teapot and cup!
The play is done; the curtain drops,_x000D_ _x000D_ Slow falling to the prompter's bell_x000D_ _x000D_ A moment yet the actor stops_x000D_ _x000D_ And looks around to say farewell.
The moral world has no particular objection to vice, but an insuperable repugnance to hearing vice called by its proper name.
I do have a sense of displacement as constant instability β the uninterrupted existence of everything that I love and care about is not guaranteed at all. I wait for catastrophes.
Our country does not believe in the concept of your God and my God. We believe that all gods are one. We have different ways of accepting Him. All ways lead to Him.
...The men eyed her with the automatic mix of curiosity, lust, and aesthetic judgment they always gave young women, subject to object, the way you'd stare at an animal. She pretended not to notice. To remind them she was a person was too much effort. Objects bore no guilt.
I have come to deal with principles. I have only to preach that God comes again and again, and that He came in India as Krishna, Rama, and Buddha, and that He will come again. It can almost be demonstrated that after each 500 years the world sinks, and a tremendous spiritual wave comes, and on the top of the wave is a Christ.
Most of the great results of history are brought about by discreditable means.
People always say 'Etta, you know what your problem is? You're neither fish nor fowl. There is no place to rack you.' When I would go in a record shop, you might find one or two records by me in different stacks.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.