Time passed solely in the pursuit of pleasure leaves no solid enjoyment for the future; but from the hours you spend in reading and studying useful books, you will gather a golden harvest in future years.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of investing time in learning rather than seeking only pleasure, as knowledge brings long-term benefits.
Dorothea Dix highlights that while pursuing pleasure may seem enjoyable in the moment, it does not provide any lasting satisfaction or benefit for the future. Conversely, dedicating time to reading and studying valuable literature leads to a wealth of knowledge that can be reapplied and appreciated over the years, suggesting that the effort put into personal growth will yield great rewards ahead.
In practice
In a motivational speech to students about the value of education.
Steady, firm, and kind government of prisoners is the truest humanity and the best exercise of duty. It is with convicts as with children: unseasonable indulgence, indiscreetly granted, leads to mischiefs which we may deplore but cannot repair.
I was early taught by sorrow to shed tears, and now when sudden joy lights up, or any unexpected sorrow strikes my heart, I find it difficult to repress the full and swelling tide of feeling.
I shall be well enough when I get to Kentucky or Alabama. The tonic I need is the tonic of opposition. That always sets me on my feet.
With care and patience, people may accomplish things which, to an indolent person, would appear impossible.
My wish is to be known only thru my work.
We are not sent into this world mainly to enjoy the loveliness therein, nor to sit us down in passive ease; no, we were sent here for action. The soul that seeks to do the will of God with a pure heart, fervently, does not yield to the lethargy of ease.
If we want to invest in the prosperity of our nation, we must invest in the education of our children so that their talents may be fully employed.
Higher education is the place where people who had big plans in high school get stuck in fierce rivalries with equally smart peers over conventional careers like management consulting and investment banking. For the privilege of being turned into conformists, students (or their families) pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in skyrocketing tuition that continues to outpace inflation. Why are we doing this to ourselves?
There are so many kids in this country growing up in poverty, facing very, very hard challenges... We need resilience for all of them.
Any genuine teaching will result, if successful, in someone's knowing how to bring about a better condition of things than existed earlier.
I had great mentors in my parents who always sought to understand the world around them. And they would push me to really think things through.
The old system where every child was locked away and set into nonstop, daily cut throat competition with every other child for silly prizes called grades is broken beyond repair. If it could be fixed it could have been fixed by now. Good riddance.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.