What I'd like is to meet a man I could take off my hat to and say: "Thank you for having got born, and the longer you live the better.
Maxim GorkyRead
If it is true that only misfortune can awaken a man's soul, it is a bitter truth, one that is hard to hear and accept, and it is only natural that many people deny it and say it is better for a man to live on in a trance than to wake up to torture.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Misfortune can lead to self-awareness and growth, though it is a painful truth.
This quote by Maxim Gorky reflects on the nature of suffering and enlightenment, suggesting that often it is through adversity that individuals become truly aware of their own existence and deeper emotional truths. While acknowledging the difficulty of this experience, it critiques the tendency to avoid pain, implying that ignorance may offer temporary comfort but denies one the authentic experience of life.
Themes
MisfortuneEnlightenmentSufferingGrowthPain
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about resilience, this quote can emphasize the importance of facing challenges.
More from Maxim Gorky
All quotes →A good man can be stupid and still be good. But a bad man must have brains.
Maxim GorkyRead
To speak the truth is the most difficult of all arts, for in its "pure" form, not connected with the interests of individuals, groups, classes, or nations, truth is almost completely unsuitable for use by the Philistine and is unacceptable to him.
Maxim GorkyRead
Be good, be kind, be humane, and charitable; love your fellows; console the afflicted; pardon those who have done you wrong.
Maxim GorkyRead
Truth doesn't always heal a wounded soul.
Maxim GorkyRead
Happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learn at once how big and precious it is.
Maxim GorkyRead
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