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
He look'd in years, yet in his years were seen A youthful vigor, and autumnal green.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the coexistence of youthful energy and the wisdom of age.
In this quote by John Dryden, the speaker observes a person who appears aged yet embodies a youthful vigor. This juxtaposition highlights the complexity of human experience, where age may bring physical signs of maturity, yet an inner vitality and spirit can remain vibrant and youthful, suggesting that life's essence is not solely defined by one's years.
In practice
During a speech on aging gracefully, this quote can emphasize the importance of maintaining inner vitality.
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.
Of 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.
Or hast thou known the world so long in vain?
Shame on the body for breaking down while the spirit perseveres.
Love reckons hours for months, and days for years; and every little absence is an age.
And write whatever Time shall bring to pass_x000D_ _x000D_ With pens of adamant on plates of brass.
Language is not made to be believed but to be obeyed, and to compel obedience newspapers, news, proceed by redundancy, in that they tell us what we βmustβ think, retain, expect, etc. language is neither informational nor communicational. It is not the communication of information but something quite different: the transmission of order-words, either from one statement to another or within each statement, insofar as each statement accomplishes an act and the act is accomplished in the statement
It is while you are patiently toiling at the little tasks of life that the meaning and shape of the great whole of life dawn on you.
The fact is, that what de Sade was trying to bring to the surface of the conscious mind was precisely the thing that revolted that mind . . . From the very first he set before the consciousness things which it could not tolerate.
We make a space inside ourselves, so that being can speak.
On the question of the world as a whole, science founders. For scientific knowledge the world lies in fragments, the more so the more precise our scientific knowledge becomes.
Naught can deform the human race Like to the armor's iron brace.
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