Men are but children of a larger growth, Our appetites as apt to change as theirs, And full as craving too, and full as vain.
John DrydenRead
And write whatever Time shall bring to pass_x000D_ _x000D_ With pens of adamant on plates of brass.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the inevitability of time's impact on events and the permanence of recorded history.
John Dryden's quote emphasizes that whatever happens in the passage of time will be recorded as a significant part of history, marked as indelibly as if written with adamant (a mythical hard substance) on brass plates. This speaks to the importance of both time and the written word in capturing the essence of events, underscoring the permanence of our actions and their consequences in the annals of history.
Themes
TimeHistoryRecordPermanenceWriting
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a history class to highlight the importance of recording events accurately.
More from John Dryden
All quotes βOf no distemper, of no blast he died, _x000D_ But fell like autumn fruit that mellow'd long: _x000D_ Even wonder'd at, because he dropp'd no sooner. _x000D_ Fate seem'd to wind him up for fourscore years; _x000D_ Yet freshly ran he on ten winters more; _x000D_ Till like a clock worn out with eating time, _x000D_ The wheels of weary life at last stood still.
John DrydenRead
Or hast thou known the world so long in vain?
John DrydenRead
Shame on the body for breaking down while the spirit perseveres.
John DrydenRead
Love reckons hours for months, and days for years; and every little absence is an age.
John DrydenRead
β¦So when the last and dreadful hour This crumbling pageant shall devour, The trumpet shall be heard on high, The dead shall live, the living die, And Music shall untune the sky
John DrydenRead
Similar quotes
Everyone is a reactionary about subjects he understands.
Robert ConquestRead
I've had many uncanny experiences. I think it's hard to be alive and not have them. But I don't know if I can decide what that means or what they are.
Alan AldaRead
At that point, Noriko finally breaks down and begins to cry sobbing into her hands as the floodgates open - this young woman who has suffered in silence for so long, this good woman who refuse to believe she's good, for only the good doubt their own goodness, which is what makes them good in the first place. The bad know they are good, but the good know nothing. They spend their lives forgiving others, but they can't forgive themselves.
Paul AusterRead
Propositions show what they say: tautologies and contradictions show that they say nothing.
Ludwig WittgensteinRead
Death, after all, is the common expectation from birth. Neither heroes nor cowards can escape it.
Ellis PetersRead
There are voices crying what must be done, a hundred, a thousand voices. But what do they help if one seeks for counsel, for one cries this, and one cries that, and another cries something that is neither this nor that.
Alan PatonRead