A dream has power to poison sleep.
Percy Bysshe ShelleyRead
One word is too often profaned For me to profane it, One feeling too falsely disdained For thee to disdain it.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the sacredness of certain words and feelings, suggesting that their value should be respected and not tarnished.
Percy Bysshe Shelley reflects on the weight that certain words and feelings carry in human experience. He suggests that some words, often misused, hold a profundity that should not be diminished, highlighting the idea that genuine emotions and ideas are deserving of reverence and respect in our communication and interactions with others.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of communication, one could use this quote to highlight the power of words.
A dream has power to poison sleep.
Senseless is the breast and cold _x000D_ _x000D_ Which relenting love would fold;_x000D_ _x000D_ Bloodless are the veins and chill _x000D_ _x000D_ Which the pulse of pain did fill; _x000D_ _x000D_ Every little living nerve _x000D_ _x000D_ That from bitter words did swerve _x000D_ _x000D_ Round the tortur'd lips and brow, _x000D_ _x000D_ Are like sapless leaflets now _x000D_ _x000D_ Frozen upon December's bough.
A sensitive plant in a garden grew,_x000D_ _x000D_ And the young winds fed it with silver dew,_x000D_ _x000D_ And it opened its fan_x000D_ _x000D_ like leaves to the light,_x000D_ _x000D_ and closed them beneath the kisses of night.
I am the daughter of Earth and Water, And the nursling of the Sky; I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores; I change, but I cannot die. For after the rain when with never a stain The pavilion of Heaven is bare, And the winds and sunbeams with their convex gleams Build up the blue dome of air, I silently laugh at my own cenotaph, And out of the caverns of rain, Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb, I arise and unbuild it again.
O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?
Ah, woe is me! Winter is come and gone. But grief returns with the revolving year.
The water in a vessel is sparkling; the water in the sea is dark. The small truth has words which are clear; the great truth has great silence.
The problems of aging present an opportunity to rethink our social and personal lives in order to ensure the dignity and welfare of each individual.
If the battle for civilization comes down to the wimps versus the barbarians, the barbarians are going to win.
My health may be better preserved if I exert myself less, but in the end doesn't each person give his life for his calling?
I am not myself in any degree ashamed of having changed my opinions.
What can this world offer comparable with that insight into spiritual things, that keen faith, that heavenly peace, that high sanctity, that everlasting righteousness, that hope of glory, which they have, who in sincerity love and follow our Lord Jesus Christ?
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