To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.
Aldous HuxleyRead
Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly -- they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.
Interpretation
Words have the power to deeply impact and influence when used thoughtfully.
Aldous Huxley suggests that words possess a profound capability to penetrate the barriers of understanding and perception. When articulated effectively, they can reveal truths and evoke emotions in listeners, much like an X-ray unveils what is hidden beneath the surface. This underscores the importance of communication and the responsibility that comes with it.
In practice
In a speech about the impact of literature, one could cite Huxley's quote to emphasize how words can reveal deep truths.
To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
In the course of history many more people have died for their drink and their dope than have died for their religion or their country.
On no account brood over your wrongdoing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.
No man ever dared to manifest his boredom so insolently as does a Siamese tomcat when he yawns in the face of his amorously importunate wife.
The leech's kiss, the squid's embrace, The prurient ape's defiling touch: And do you like the human race? No, not much.
People tend to become more emotionally intelligent as they age and mature.
Always forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.
I had always been impressed by the fact that there are surprisingly many individuals who never use their minds if they can avoid it, and yet are not stupid, and an equal number who obviously do use their minds but in an amazingly stupid way.
We cannot make events. Our business is wisely to improve them.
The compensations of calamity are made apparent to the understanding also, after long intervals of time.
We should cultivate the optimistic temperament, and endeavour to see the good that dwells in everything. If we sit down and lament over the imperfection of our bodies and our minds, we profit nothing; it is the heroic endeavour to subdue adverse circumstances that carries our spirit upward.
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