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Quote by Philip Larkin

“The first day after a death, the new absence Is always the same; we should be careful Of each other, we should be kind While there is still time. From "The Mower”

Quote by Philip Larkin

Author

Philip Larkin
Philip Larkin

Philip Larkin (August 9, 1922 – December 2, 1985) was a renowned English poet, novelist, and librarian. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest poets of post-war Britain, known for his concise, bleak, and ironic style. Born in Coventry, Larkin studied at St John's College, Oxford. His major works include the poetry collections 'The Whitsun Weddings' and 'High Windows', and the novel 'Jill'. He spent most of his career as librarian at the University of Hull. Larkin's poetry often explores themes of death, loneliness, love, and the absurdity of everyday life. He rejected modernism in favor of traditional forms, and his precise, musical language earned him the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. His work continues to influence poets and readers worldwide. more

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“That day, I learned that I could be a giver by simply bringing a smile to another person. The ensuing years have taught me that a kind word, a vote of support is a charitable gift. I can move over and make another place for someone. I can turn my music up if it pleases, or down if it is annoying. I may never be known as a philanthropist, but I certainly am a lover of mankind, and I will give freely of my resources.”

“Men are like children, in that, if you spoil them, they become naughty. Therefore it is well not to be too indulgent or charitable with anyone. You may take it as a general rule that you will not lose a friend by refusing him a loan, but that you are very likely to do so by granting it; and, for similar reasons, you will not readily alienate people by being somewhat proud and careless in your behavior; but if you are very kind and complaisant towards them, you will often make them arrogant and intolerable, and so a breach will ensue.”

“Good is to be found neither in the sermons of religious teachers and prophets, nor in the teachings of sociologists and popular leaders, nor in the ethical systems of philosophers... And yet ordinary people bear love in their hearts, are naturally full of love and pity for any living thing. At the end of the day's work they prefer the warmth of the hearth to a bonfire in the public square. Yes, as well as this terrible Good with a capital 'G', there is everyday human kindness. The kindness of an old woman carrying a piece of bread to a prisoner, the kindness of a soldier allowing a wounded enemy to drink from his water-flask, the kindness of youth towards age, the kindness of a peasant hiding an old Jew in his loft. The kindness of a prison guard who risks his own liberty to pass on letters written by a prisoner not to his ideological comrades, but to his wife and mother. The private kindness of one individual towards another; a petty, thoughtless kindness; an unwitnessed kindness. Something we could call senseless kindness. A kindness outside any system of social or religious good. But if we think about it, we realize that this private, senseless, incidental kindness is in fact eternal. It is extended to everything living, even to a mouse, even to a bent branch that a man straightens as he walks by. Even at the most terrible times, through all the mad acts carried out in the name of Universal Good and the glory of States, times when people were tossed about like branches in the wind, filling ditches and gullies like stones in an avalanche – even then this senseless, pathetic kindness remained scattered throughout life like atoms of radium.”