I'd rather have two good friends, than 500,000 admirers.
E. E. CummingsRead
That which we die for lives as wholly as that which we live for dies.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the intertwined nature of life and death, emphasizing that what we sacrifice for has a lasting impact, as does what we choose to live for.
E. E. Cummings' quote suggests a profound connection between life and death, highlighting that the values and ideals we are willing to die for possess an enduring essence, much like the things we actively pursue in life can decay and fade away. It invites contemplation of the purpose of our sacrifices and the significance of the legacies we build through our actions and intentions.
In practice
In a speech about personal sacrifice, you might use this quote to emphasize the value of standing up for one's beliefs.
I'd rather have two good friends, than 500,000 admirers.
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.
It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.
When god decided to invent everything he took one reath bigger than a circustent and everything began
The Artist is no other than he who unlearns what he has learned, in order to know himself.
Nobody else can be alive for you; nor can you be alive for anybody else.
We are all regionalists in our origins, however 'universal' our themes and characters, and without our cherished hometowns and childhood landscapes to nourish us, we would be like plants set in shallow soil. Our souls must take root - almost literally.
In vain we call old notions fudge, And bend our conscience to our dealing; The Ten Commandments will not budge, And stealing will continue stealing.
Could I be assured that America would remain virtuous, I would venture to defy the utmost Efforts of Enemies to subjugate her.
All that happens means something; nothing you do is ever insignificant.
I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth. If two or three persons should come with a high spiritual aim and with great powers, the world would fall into their hands like a ripe peach.
Men are rather reasoning than reasonable animals for the most part governed by the impulse of passion. This is a truth well understood by our adversaries who have practised upon it with no small benefit to their cause. For at the very moment they are eulogizing the reason of men & professing to appeal only to that faculty, they are courting the strongest & most active passion of the human heart - VANITY!
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