When the time comes, let loose a tiger and a devil; but wait for the time with the tiger and the devil chained -not shown- yet always ready.
Interpretation
Be prepared to act decisively when the moment arises, but practice patience and restraint until then.
This quote by Charles Dickens emphasizes the importance of being ready for action while also highlighting the virtue of patience. It suggests that while we may have the capacity for strength and aggression ('a tiger and a devil'), there is a time for restraint, where we should hold back our fierceness until the right moment arrives. The imagery of a tiger and a devil symbolizes both the potential for ferocity and the need to control it until necessary.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a leadership workshop to inspire patience and planning before taking action.
I recollected one story there was in the village, how that on a certain night in the year (it might be that very night for anything I knew), all the dead people came out of the ground and sat at the heads of their own graves till morning.
A silent look of affection and regard when all other eyes are turned coldly away-the consciousness that we possess the sympathy and affection of one being when all others have deserted us-is a hold, a stay, a comfort, in the deepest affliction, which no wealth could purchase, or power bestow.
Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried, than before--more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle.
There are not a few among the disciples of charity who require, in their vocation, scarcely less excitement than the votaries of pleasure in theirs.
You might, from your appearance, be the wife of Lucifer,” said Miss Pross, in her breathing. “Nevertheless, you shall not get the better of me. I am an Englishwoman.
Christmas is a poor excuse every 25th of December to pick a man's pockets.
Embrace your fear. Imagine what you're most afraid of, touch it and hold it so that you rob it of its power.
You don't have to be straight to be in the military; you just have to be able to shoot straight.
Had I so interfered in behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent, the so-called great, or in behalf of any of their friends...every man in this court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment.
In working to end violence against women and children, we need to ensure that men are centrally involved. Men need to organise themselves in a sustained campaign against gender-based violence.
Power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don't.
For those searching for something more than just the norm. We lay it all down, including what others call sanity, for just a few moments on waves larger than life. We do this because we know there is still something greater than all of us. Something that inspires us spiritually. We start going down hill, when we stop taking risks.
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