We have done with Hope and Honour. we are lost to Love and Truth, We are dropping down the ladder rung by rung; And the measure of our torment is the measure of our youth. God help us, for we knew the worst too young!
Rudyard KiplingRead
When young lips have drunk deep of the bitter waters of hate, suspicion and despair, all the love in the world will not wholly take away that knowledge. Though it may turn darkened eyes for a while to the light, and teach faith where no faith was.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Experiencing hate and despair in youth leaves lasting scars that love alone may not completely heal.
In this quote, Rudyard Kipling addresses the deep emotional scars that arise from negative experiences such as hate and despair. He suggests that even though love has the power to bring hope and light into a person's life, it cannot erase the memories or lessons learned from suffering, particularly in one's formative years. The quote highlights the complexity of human emotions and the enduring impact of past experiences on an individual's ability to trust and believe in love.
Themes
HateLoveDespairTrustFaithEmotionsYouthHealing
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a workshop on emotional healing to illustrate how past traumas can affect one's ability to love.
More from Rudyard Kipling
All quotes →Humble because of knowledge; mighty by sacrifice.
Rudyard KiplingRead
Hear and attend and listen; for this is what befell and be-happened and became and was, O my Best Beloved, when the Tame animals were wild. The dog was wild, and the Horse was wild, and the Cow was wild, and the Sheep was wild, and the Pig was wild -as wild as wild could be - and they walked in the Wet Wild Woods by their wild lones. But the wildest of all the wild animals was the Cat. He walked by himself and all places were alike to him
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I keep six honest serving men.
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And when your back stops aching and your hands begin to harden, You will find yourself a partner in the Glory of the Garden.
Rudyard KiplingRead
Savings represent much more than mere money value. They are the proof that the saver is worth something in himself. Any fool can waste; any fool can muddle; but it takes something more of a man to save and the more he saves the more of a man he makes of himself. Waste and extravagance unsettle a man's mind for every crisis; thrift, which means some form of self-restraint, steadies it.
Rudyard KiplingRead
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