Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul?
John KeatsRead
I am in that temper that if I were under water I would scarcely kick to come to the top.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a profound sense of resignation and acceptance of one's circumstances.
In this quote, John Keats expresses a deep emotional state characterized by apathy and an overwhelming sense of despair. If he were submerged underwater, he suggests that he wouldn't even make the effort to struggle for the surface, indicating a willingness to surrender rather than fight against the currents of life. This illustrates the human experience of feeling overwhelmed and the contemplation of letting go amidst adversity.
Themes
DespairSurrenderResignationStruggleLife
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about mental health, one might reference this quote to illustrate feelings of hopelessness.
More from John Keats
All quotes βAre there not thousands in the world who love their fellows even to the death, who feel the giant agony of the world, and more, like slaves to poor humanity, labor for mortal good?
John KeatsRead
Ask yourself my love whether you are not very cruel to have so entrammelled me, so destroyed my freedom. Will you confess this in the Letter you must write immediately, and do all you can to console me in it β make it rich as a draught of poppies to intoxicate me βwrite the softest words and kiss them that I may at least touch my lips where yours have been. For myself I know not how to express my devotion to so fair a form: I want a brighter word than bright, a fairer word than fair.
John KeatsRead
Faded the flower and all its budded charms,Faded the sight of beauty from my eyes,Faded the shape of beauty from my arms,Faded the voice, warmth, whiteness, paradise!Vanishd unseasonably
John KeatsRead
I think we may class the lawyer in the natural history of monsters.
John KeatsRead
...I leaped headlong into the Sea, and thereby have become more acquainted with the Soundings, the quicksands, and the rocks, than if I had stayed upon the green shore, and piped a silly pipe, and took tea and comfortable advice.
John KeatsRead
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