Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
If your morals make you dreary, depend upon it they are wrong.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Morals should bring joy, not sadness; if they do, something is amiss.
This quote by Robert Louis Stevenson emphasizes that true morals and ethical values should lead to fulfillment and happiness rather than negativity or dreariness. If one's moral compass causes despair or gloominess, it suggests that these morals may be misguided or misinterpreted, indicating the importance of aligning one's values with joy and positivity.
Themes
MoralsHappinessJoyEthicsWell-Being
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about ethical leadership, one might cite this quote to emphasize the importance of positive moral values.
More from Robert Louis Stevenson
All quotes βLike a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memories survive in time of sorrow.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
His past was fairly blameless; few men could read the rolls of their life with less apprehension; yet he was humbled to the dust by the many ill things he had done, and raised up again into sober and fearful gratitude by the many he had come so near to doing, yet avoided.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
The habit of being happy enables one to be freed, or largely freed, from the domination of outward conditions.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
It is the history of our kindnesses that alone make this world tolerable. If it were not for that, for the effect of kind words, kind looks, kind letters . . . I should be inclined to think our life a practical jest in the worst possible spirit.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
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