There are many things which we can afford to forget which it is yet well to learn.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
The rule of joy and the law of duty seem to me all one.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Joy and duty are intertwined and should be considered as one concept.
In this quote, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. expresses the idea that joy and duty are not separate entities but are instead deeply connected. He suggests that fulfilling one's obligations or duties can lead to true happiness, indicating that a joyful life is one that encompasses both personal fulfillment and responsibility to others.
Themes
JoyDutyHappinessFulfillmentResponsibility
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on community service, one could use this quote to emphasize the joy found in helping others.
More from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
All quotes βOn the whole, I am on the side of the unregenerate who affirms the worth of life as an end in itself, as against the saints who deny it.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
If you don't know what you want, you will probably never get it.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
Why should you row a boat race? Why endure the long months of pain in preparation for a fierce half hour that will leave you all but dead? Does anyone ask the question? Is there anyone who would not go through all the costs, and more, for the moment when anguish breaks into triumph or even for the glory of having nobly lost? Is life less than a boat race? If a man will give the blood in his body to win the one, will he spend all the might of his soul to prevail in the other?
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
The main part of intellectual education is not the acquisition of facts, but learning how to make facts live.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
Beware how you take away hope from another human being.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
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