Pride is founded not on the sense of happiness, but on the sense of power.
William HazlittRead
Our repugnance to death increases in proportion to our consciousness of having lived in vain.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The more we feel our lives lack purpose, the more we fear death.
This quote suggests that our fear of death is closely tied to our assessment of our lives. If we believe we have lived without meaning or achievement, the notion of death becomes more unsettling because it symbolizes the end of unfulfilled potential and experiences. Conversely, a life rich in purpose can ease the fear of mortality.
Themes
DeathPurposeLifeFearConsciousness
In practice
Example use cases
In a eulogy to highlight the importance of living a meaningful life.
More from William Hazlitt
All quotes βThe world loves to be amused by hollow professions, to be deceived by flattering appearances, to live in a state of hallucination; and can forgive everything but the plain, downright, simple, honest truth.
William HazlittRead
We can bear to be deprived of everything but our self-conceit.
William HazlittRead
There are few things in which we deceive ourselves more than in the esteem we profess to entertain for our firends. It is little better than a piece of quackery. The truth is, we think of them as we please, that is, as they please or displease us.
William HazlittRead
Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity is a greater. Possession pampers the mind; privation trains and strengthens it.
William HazlittRead
One is always more vexed at losing a game of any sort by a single hole or ace, than if one has never had a chance of winning it.
William HazlittRead
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When superior people hear of the Way, they carry it out with diligence. When middling people hear of the Way, it sometimes seems to be there, sometimes not. When lesser people hear of the Way, they ridicule it greatly. If they didn't laugh at it, it wouldn't be the Way.
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