Of all sound of all bells... most solemn and touching is the peal which rings out the Old Year.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the emotional significance of the transition from one year to the next.
Charles Lamb emphasizes the poignant resonance of the bells that mark the end of a year, suggesting that this moment is steeped in solemnity and deep emotional reflection. The tolling bells serve as a reminder of the passage of time, evoking feelings of nostalgia and contemplation about both the experiences of the past year and the hopes for the new one.
In practice
This quote could be used to reflect during a New Year's Eve gathering.
Thus, when the lamp that lighted The traveller at first goes out, He feels awhile benighted, And looks around in fear and doubt. But soon, the prospect clearing, By cloudless starlight on he treads, And thinks no lamp so cheering As that light which Heaven sheds.
As down in the sunless retreats of the ocean Sweet flowers are springing no mortal can see, So deep in my soul the still prayer of devotion, Unheard by the world, rises silent to Thee. As still to the star of its worship, though clouded, The needle points faithfully o'er the dim sea, So dark when I roam in this wintry world shrouded, The hope of my spirit turns trembling to Thee.
The most mortifying infirmity in human nature, to feel in ourselves, or to contemplate in another, is perhaps cowardice.
Oh, ever thus, from childhood's hour, I 've seen my fondest hopes decay; I never loved a tree or flower But 't was the first to fade away. I never nurs'd a dear gazelle, To glad me with its soft black eye, But when it came to know me well And love me, it was sure to die.
May my last breath be drawn through a pipe, and exhaled in a jest.
A pun is not bound by the laws which limit nicer wit. It is a pistol let off at the ear; not a feather to tickle the intellect.
No man should think himself a zero, and think he can do nothing about the state of the world.
Let woman share the rights and she will emulate the virtues of man; for she must grow more perfect when emancipated.
If you want to change who you are, begin by changing the size of your dream. Even if you are broke, it does not cost you anything to dream of being rich. Many poor people are poor because they have given up on dreaming.
You must constantly ask yourself these questions: Who am I around? What are they doing to me? What have they got me reading? What have they got me saying? Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking? And most important, what do they have me becoming? Then ask yourself the big question: Is that okay? Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.
It is in revolutionary periods that the culmination of previous trends and the beginning of new ones appear.
The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you find new cheese.
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