God how I hate new countries: They are older than the old, more sophisticated, much more conceited, only young in a certain puerile vanity more like senility than anything.
D. H. LawrenceRead
One could laugh at the world better if it didn't mix tender kindliness with its brutality.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the struggle of reconciling the kindness in the world with its harsh realities.
D. H. Lawrence's quote underscores a profound observation about human experience, highlighting the contrast between the tenderness and kindness that can coexist alongside the inherent brutality of life. It suggests that a more genuine and untainted laughter at the world might emerge if not for this conflicting mixture of compassion and cruelty, prompting a deeper reflection on how we perceive both beauty and suffering in our lives.
Themes
LaughWorldKindnessBrutalityExperience
In practice
Example use cases
A discussion on the complexity of human experiences in a philosophy class.
More from D. H. Lawrence
All quotes βA young man is afraid of his demon and puts his hand over the demon's mouth sometimes and speaks for him. And the things the young man says are very rarely poetry.
D. H. LawrenceRead
And besides, look at elder flowers and bluebells-they are a sign that pure creation takes place - even the butterfly. But humanity never gets beyond the caterpillar stage -it rots in the chrysalis, it never will have wings.It is anti-creation, like monkeys and baboons.
D. H. LawrenceRead
The Christian fear of the pagan outlook has damaged the whole consciousness of man.
D. H. LawrenceRead
The cosmos is a vast living body, of which we are still parts. The sun is a great heart whose tremors run through our smallest veins. The moon is a great nerve center from which we quiver forever. Who knows the power that Saturn has over us, or Venus? But it is a vital power, rippling exquisitely through us all the time.
D. H. LawrenceRead
... he preferred his own madness, to the regular sanity. He rejoiced in his own madness, he was free. He did not want that old sanity of the world, which was become so repulsive. He rejoiced in the new-found world of his madness. It was so fresh and delicate and so satisfying.
D. H. LawrenceRead
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Let us not forget that the reasons for human actions are usually incalculably more complex and diverse than we tend to explain them later, and are seldom clearly manifest.
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You create your own universe as you go along.
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Laughter on American television has taken the place of the chorus in Greek tragedy. In other countries, the business of laughing is left to the viewers. Here, their laughter is put on the screen, integrated into the show. It is the screen that is laughing and having a good time. You are simply left alone with your consternation.
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That which lives on reason lives against the spirit.
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