We have done with Hope and Honour. we are lost to Love and Truth, We are dropping down the ladder rung by rung; And the measure of our torment is the measure of our youth. God help us, for we knew the worst too young!
Rudyard KiplingRead
Small miseries, like small debts, hit us in so many places, and meet us at so many turns and corners, that what they want in weight, they make up in number, and render it less hazardous to stand the fire of one cannon ball, than a volley composed of such a shower of bullets.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Small miseries can be more burdensome in number than a single great misfortune.
This quote by Rudyard Kipling underscores the idea that minor troubles, when they accumulate, can become overwhelming. Unlike a significant hardship that strikes once, the relentless nature of numerous small issues can wear us down, likening them to a barrage of bullets that are difficult to evade, as opposed to a single cannonball that is easier to confront.
Themes
MiseriesBurdenTroublesPhilosophyHardshipAccumulation
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about mental health, one might use this quote to illustrate the impact of accumulating stressors.
More from Rudyard Kipling
All quotes →Humble because of knowledge; mighty by sacrifice.
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Hear and attend and listen; for this is what befell and be-happened and became and was, O my Best Beloved, when the Tame animals were wild. The dog was wild, and the Horse was wild, and the Cow was wild, and the Sheep was wild, and the Pig was wild -as wild as wild could be - and they walked in the Wet Wild Woods by their wild lones. But the wildest of all the wild animals was the Cat. He walked by himself and all places were alike to him
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I keep six honest serving men.
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And when your back stops aching and your hands begin to harden, You will find yourself a partner in the Glory of the Garden.
Rudyard KiplingRead
Savings represent much more than mere money value. They are the proof that the saver is worth something in himself. Any fool can waste; any fool can muddle; but it takes something more of a man to save and the more he saves the more of a man he makes of himself. Waste and extravagance unsettle a man's mind for every crisis; thrift, which means some form of self-restraint, steadies it.
Rudyard KiplingRead
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