If two lives join, there is oft a scar. They are one and one, with a shadowy third; One near one is too far.
Robert BrowningRead
Tis Man's to explore up and down, inch by inch, with the taper his reason.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of human reason in understanding and exploring the world.
Robert Browning suggests that human beings have a fundamental role in exploring the depths of existence and knowledge, using their reason as a guiding light. The metaphor of a taper implies that our reasoning, though sometimes limited, enables us to navigate the complexities of life, allowing for discovery and understanding, inch by inch.
Themes
ExplorationReasonKnowledgeUnderstandingExistence
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of education, one might quote Browning to emphasize the role of reason in discovering truths.
More from Robert Browning
All quotes βI think, am sure, a brother's love exceeds_x000D_ _x000D_ All the world's loves in its unworldliness.
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I dare not so honor my mere wishes and prayers as to put them for a moment beside your noble acts; but this know, I would rather submit to the worst of deaths, so far as pain goes, than have a single dog or cat tortured on the pretence of sparing me a twinge or two.
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How well I know what I mean to do When the long dark Autumn evenings come, And where, my soul, is thy pleasant hue? With the music of all thy voices, dumb In lifeβs November too! I shall be found by the fire, suppose, Oβer a great wise book as beseemeth age, While the shutters flap as the cross-wind blows, And I turn the page, and I turn the page, Not verse now, only prose!
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How good is life, the mere living!
Robert BrowningRead
Where the apple reddens never pry - lest we lose our Edens, Eve and I.
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