I have always been of the mind that in a democracy manners are the only effective weapons against the bowie-knife.
James Russell LowellRead
Whatever you may be sure of, be sure of this, that you are dreadfully like other people.
Interpretation
What this quote means
We are more alike than we think, highlighting our shared humanity.
James Russell Lowell's quote emphasizes the commonality of human experience, suggesting that despite our individual differences, we share fundamental traits and emotions. This reminder encourages empathy and understanding, prompting us to recognize our connections with others rather than focusing solely on our distinctions.
Themes
HumanityCommonalityEmpathyUnityConnection
In practice
Example use cases
In a TED talk about understanding different cultures.
More from James Russell Lowell
All quotes βThe foolish and the dead alone never change their opinions.
James Russell LowellRead
Not failure, but low aim, is crime.
James Russell LowellRead
Good luck is the willing handmaid of upright, energetic character, and conscientious observance of duty.
James Russell LowellRead
Puritanism, believing itself quick with the seed of religious liberty, laid, without knowing it, the egg of democracy.
James Russell LowellRead
Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind.
James Russell LowellRead
Similar quotes
As there is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood by those who hear it, so reasonable arguments, challenges to magnanimity, and appeals to sympathy or justice, are folly when we are dealing with human crocodiles and boa-constrictors.
William JamesRead
The last function of reason is to recognize that there are an infinity of things which surpass it.
Blaise PascalRead
I am on fire within._x000D_ There comes no murmur of reply._x000D_ What is it that will take away my sin,_x000D_ And save me lest I die?
Alfred Lord TennysonRead
We see the world piece by piece, as the sun, the moon, the animal, the tree; but the whole, of which these are shining parts, is the soul.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
So we draw lines around our property, our counties, our cities, our states, our countries. And, boy, do we act as if those lines are important. I mean, we go to war. We will kill and die to protect those boundaries. Nature couldn't give two hoots about our national boundaries.
David SuzukiRead
Curiosity, n. An objectionable quality of the female mind. The desire to know whether or not a woman is cursed with curiosity is one of the most active and insatiable passions of the masculine soul.
Ambrose BierceRead