This truth within thy mind rehearse, That in a boundless universe Is boundless better, boundless worse.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the vastness of the universe, suggesting that with infinite possibilities comes both greater potential for good and bad.
In this quote, Tennyson highlights the paradox of the boundless universe and its implications for human experience. He suggests that as the universe expands without limits, so too do the opportunities for excellence and failure, emphasizing the dual nature of existence where what is considered 'better' or 'worse' can become limitless. This invites deep reflection on how our understanding of morality and potential is shaped in an infinitely complex world.
In practice
In a debate about the nature of good and evil, this quote can illustrate the complexities involved.
Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark; For though from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar.
How many a father have I seen, A sober man, among his boys, Whose youth was full of foolish noise.
O Love! what hours were thine and mine, In lands of palm and southern pine; In lands of palm, of orange-blossom, Of olive, aloe, and maize and vine!
Earth is dry to the centre,_x000D_ But spring, a new comer,_x000D_ A spring rich and strange,_x000D_ Shall make the winds blow_x000D_ Round and round,_x000D_ Thro' and thro',_x000D_ Here and there,_x000D_ Till the air_x000D_ And the ground_x000D_ Shall be fill'd with life anew.
O love, O fire! once he drew With one long kiss my whole soul through My lips, as sunlight drinketh dew.
But thy strong Hours indignant work’d their wills, And beat me down and marr’d and wasted me, And tho’ they could not end me, left me maim’d To dwell in presence of immortal youth, Immortal age beside immortal youth, And all I was, in ashes. - Tithonus
The problem was you had to keep choosing between one evil or another, and no matter what you chose, they sliced a little more off you, until there was nothing left. At the age of 25 most people were finished. A whole goddamned nation of assholes driving automobiles, eating, having babies, doing everything in the worst way possible, like voting for the presidential candidate who reminded them most of themselves.
Any dispute in matters of taste usually results in a standoff.
It is only in the microscope that our life looks so big.
You're born naked, and the rest is drag! EVERYBODY is in drag. Whether you're a man or a woman. It just depends on how extreme you wanna go.
I can't honestly account for the very personal response that I have to one story and not another, a sense of an orbit, the orbit of a world that draws me as my own life recedes.
There is a cultural factor promoting violence which nowadays undoubtedly is highly effective is the mass media. And particularly everything that enters our minds through pictorial media.
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