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Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness, of hatred, of jealousy, and, most easily of all, the gate of fear.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Love has the power to influence many emotions and experiences in life, determining our happiness and fears.

In this quote, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. suggests that love is a fundamental force in our emotional lives, acting as a 'master key' that can unlock various aspects of human experience. It emphasizes that love not only leads to happiness but is also intertwined with other complex emotions like hatred, jealousy, and fear. The quote implies that love is essential for understanding and navigating the full spectrum of our feelings.

Themes

LoveHappinessEmotionsFearJealousy

In practice

Example use cases

During a wedding toast, to emphasize the power of love in relationships.

More from Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

We call those poets who are first to mark, Through earth's dull mist the coming of the dawn, Who see in twilight's gloom the first pale spark, While others only note that day is gone.
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Every real thought on every real subject knocks the wind out of somebody or other.
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The very aim and end of our institutions is just this: that we may think what we like and say what we think.
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Don't you stay at home of evenings? Don't you love a cushioned seat in a corner, by the fireside, with your slippers on your feet?
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Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle which fits them all.
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Take your needle, my child, and work at your pattern; it will come out a rose by and by. Life is like that - one stitch at a time taken patiently and the pattern will come out all right like the embroidery.
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