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Quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

Work

Professor At The Breakfast Table

This book is a compilation of thoughtful and witty essays that delve into a wide range of topics, including ethics, morality, and human nature. The author, known only by the title, engages in lively conversations with a group of friends at breakfast, offering unique perspectives and insights into the complexities of life. The narrative style is conversational and accessible, making it an enjoyable read for those interested in philosophical discourse and social commentary. more

Author

Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. was an American physician, poet, and writer who made significant contributions to the field of medicine and influenced American literature and culture. He was a pioneer in the use of ether as an anesthetic and a leading figure in the medical community of his time. more

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“Everyone knows pain. We are not meant to carry it forever. We were never meant to hold it so closely, so be certain in the belief that what pain belongs to now will belong soon to then. That when someone asks you how was your day, realize that for some of us - it's the only way we know how to say, be calm. Loosen your grip, opening each palm, slowly now - let go.”

“I am thoroughly convinced that no individual or nation can live by holding itself apart from the community of others. Give and take is the law; and if India wants to raise herself once more, it is absolutely necessary that she brings out her treasures and throws them broadcast among the nations of the earth, and in return be ready to receive what others have to give her. Expansion is life, contraction is death. Love is life, and hatred is death. We commenced to die the day we began to hate other races; and nothing can prevent our death unless we come back to expansion, which is life.”

“Pleasure is not the goal of man, but knowledge. Pleasure and happiness comes to an end. It is a mistake to suppose that pleasure is the goal. The cause of all the miseries we have in the world is that men foolishly think pleasure to be the ideal to strive for. After a time man finds that it is not happiness, but knowledge, towards which he is going, and that both pleasure and pain are great teachers.”