'Mind and matter,' said the lady in the wig, 'glide swift into the vortex if immensity. Howls the sublime, and softly sleeps the calm Ideal, in the whispering chambers of Imagination.'
Interpretation
This quote explores the interplay between the mind and the physical world, suggesting a vastness beyond our perception tied to imagination.
In this quote, Charles Dickens reflects on the relationship between the mind and the material world, describing how both quickly move towards a greater, unfathomable reality. He highlights the contrast between the chaotic 'sublime' and the tranquil 'calm Ideal,' emphasizing that imagination holds the key to understanding this duality and the mysteries of existence.
In practice
In a speech about creativity, one might use this quote to emphasize the power of imagination in innovative thinking.
I recollected one story there was in the village, how that on a certain night in the year (it might be that very night for anything I knew), all the dead people came out of the ground and sat at the heads of their own graves till morning.
A silent look of affection and regard when all other eyes are turned coldly away-the consciousness that we possess the sympathy and affection of one being when all others have deserted us-is a hold, a stay, a comfort, in the deepest affliction, which no wealth could purchase, or power bestow.
Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried, than before--more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle.
There are not a few among the disciples of charity who require, in their vocation, scarcely less excitement than the votaries of pleasure in theirs.
You might, from your appearance, be the wife of Lucifer,” said Miss Pross, in her breathing. “Nevertheless, you shall not get the better of me. I am an Englishwoman.
Christmas is a poor excuse every 25th of December to pick a man's pockets.
When Zarathustra was alone . . . he said to his heart: "Could it be possible! This old saint in the forest hath not yet heard of it, that God is dead!"
Either we conform our desires to the truth or we conform the truth to our desires.
You and your sins must separate, or you and your God will never come together.
I do not like to get the news, because there has never been an era when so many things were going so right for so many of the wrong persons.
We ought to recognize that religious strife is not the consequence of differences among people. It's about conflicts between creation stories.
We don't stop talking about how the world might be better just because we have no chance of making it to Prime Minister. We are all politicians. We are all artists. In an open society everything the mind and hands can achieve is our birthright. It is up to us to claim it.
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