“If it ain’t broke don’t fix it”, one of the most well known and well used aphorisms. This statement states something very obvious yet has a meaningful background. Many aphorisms tend to take on this trend by making a simple and observation that has some truth to it. In the story Tuesdays With Morrie many aphorisms appear throughout the plot. When reading I was able to comprehend the aphorisms Morrie proclaimed and relate them to my life experiences. One of the many aphorisms stated by Morrie is, “Don’t let go too soon, but don’t hang on too long”. The main message Morrie is trying to deliver is that one shouldn’t let an emotion affect them for too long. He also reminds the readers that they need to let themselves feel an emotion before they
Throughout the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch demonstrates himself as an honest lawyer, a loving father, and a symbol of righteousness through his beliefs that he instills in his children. Atticus Finch values empathy, respect, and bravery, and he proves himself as a moral compass by teaching both Jem and Scout these values in the form of life lessons.
Emotions are just chemical reactions inside a muscle locked within their skulls, but those chemicals and affect everything around people and their perception of the world. “..The next time I saw my wife, she was on tv. That’s how you identify the dead in Derry--no walking down a subterranean corridor…” (King 1) Mike, finding out his wife died through such an apathetic way, spirals out into a wind of clouded judgement and grief. People become enraged when they are treated without compassion, especially when a life changing situation is at hand. People need to be comforted when loss occurs; however, the next time he speaks to someone it will be four months later, when Jo’s brother reaches out to have some of her belongings. Mike and his friend Todd conversed four years later after Joanna’s passing, during which Todd prods at Mike if he has see anyone. “Have you seen anybody, Mike?” to which Mike responded with “Never. No one comes close to Jo.” (King 2) Mike shut himself out from the world, drowning in sorrow and affliction. Grief alters people in dark ways, it makes them shut down and build a wall if they do not face it in a healthy method. Sometimes, individuals take baby steps to secure themselves in the fact they can’t bring back the
As a human it’s in our nature to make decision based on what may be best for oneself at the moment, but we do not think of the repercussions it may cause in the future. These decisions can have a positive and negative effect on one’s life. Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening” shows the general population how making decisions without thinking rationally. Edna Pontellier made decisions that were both beneficial and harmful to herself and her family. She began to experience an emotion she has never been able to acquire and also caused her to become physically trapped in a situation that makes her battle between her dignity and image in society.
“Sometimes when you look back on a situation, you realize it wasn’t all you thought it was. A beautiful girl walked into your life. You fell in love. Or did you? Maybe it was only a childish infatuation, or maybe just a brief moment of vanity.” Henry Bromel talks about how maybe things aren’t as great looking back rather than in the actual moment. We go through life making dozens of choices. Some made in a blink of an eye, others made after a few years of pondering. Some of our choices give us good fortune. Others creates situation we wish were never made in the first place. Some bad decisions in life can be avoid by taking the time to think about the consequences before deciding to change or avoid a decision all together. Many characters in
“We know all men are not created equal in the sense some people would have us believe,” (Atticus). This aphorism becomes evident in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird. Tom Robinson is the defendant of a rape case, in which Mayella Ewell is the victim. With lopsided and contradictory testimony and great elucidating from Atticus it seems Tom will be a free individual. However, he is found guilty and in due course is shot to death in a prison where he attempts to run. Nonetheless, Atticus Finch uses ethos, logos, and pathos in his closing argument to persuade the jury of Tom Robinson’s innocence.
oyful, sorrowful, and infuriated are all ways to think, talk, or live. There are many different paths to live your life; not only those three, there are several more. It all depends on how you see the world, on how your life will be. People with more experience, people who know how to see the world at its best, are those who are older in age. Although age is relative for experience, it will not mean that an elderly person would have a lot of experience, but most certainly he or she will have more experience than a young adult. In many cases, people learn from someone with more experience, like Mitch Albom learnt from Morrie in Tuesdays With Morrie. Morrie had many life lessons prepared for Mitch, but they were not planned. They all were for preparing him to understand his final teaching. Some of them were the way you see the world, how to give love and let it come inand chase it, and aspire to be fully human.
Ever felt the great feeling of when someone showed you empathy throughout a current situation, when they don’t even know the whole story? Did that kind action overstep racism and prejudice? In the 30’s during the Great Depression and segregation, racism and prejudice were on the rise. In To Kill a Mockingbird, basically all of the characters including Scout, Jem, Dill, Atticus, and Arthur (Boo) Radley, had their own side problems others may not have been unaware of. The author is showing, in part I, that empathy is the solution to racism and prejudice.
There are some moments in the book wherein Morrie is portrayed as a sensitive man, in touch with his emotions and has no fear in showing them. An example of this is located in pages 50 to 51 where in Morrie states “…I saw people in Bosnia running across the street , getting fired upon, killed, innocent victims…and I just started to cry” and another quote stating “ Ah Mitch…One day, I’m going to show you that’s it’s okay to cry”.
The world is constantly in motion; therefore, as time progresses one’s way of thinking changes as well, for instance: today’s world is surely different compared to the Elizabethan era. In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare portrays love at first sight as a major theme; however, this theme is questionable, especially when Claudio rejects Hero at their wedding day. He assumed that Hero was no longer a virgin. Nevertheless, if love is beautiful, as well as a powerful force that attracts two human beings together, then why should one’s innocence matter? The power of one’s love should always speak louder; yet, one’s actions are unpredictable. In Richard III, Shakespeare depicts how evilness can corrupt one’s mind, forcing one’s heart to consist
...er this loss of love, but in the end we can hope they were able to move on. This is what should be taken from these stories; that although the end of love can be painful, it is important to move on and grow from these experiences.
Many times in our life we face unpredictable events, and it reminds us that it is important to seize the day with the precious moments we have. In the poem, To His Coy Mistress, Andrew Marvell writes, “Thus, though we cannot make our sun stand still, yet we will make him run” (45-46). This line indicates that it is important to live while you can and make the most use of the time you have. The two lovers were not aware of their future ahead, but they did know that their relationship was what made them feel satisfied in life. They know time cannot be stopped, but they can switch places with time, where they pursue time, instead of time perusing them. Likewise, in Fault in the Stars, by John Green, the main character, Augustus Waters, embodies carpe diem. He understands that death is unavoidable, but he chooses to seize the day by making most of the precious moments in life. Even though Augustus had limited time till death, he seized the day by leaving a mark on others with the relationships he formed. His life was not defined by the fact that it was temporary but because he chose to live every day with dignity, faith, and love. Therefore, in order to seize the day, you just need to use whatever time you have and create your own little
Oscar Wilde frames "The Importance of Being Earnest" around the paradoxical epigram, a skewering metaphor for the play's central theme of division of truth and identity that hints at a homosexual subtext. Other targets of Wilde's absurd yet grounded wit are the social conventions of his stuffy Victorian society, which are exposed as a "shallow mask of manners" (1655). Aided by clever wordplay, frantic misunderstanding, and dissonance of knowledge between the characters and the audience, devices that are now staples of contemporary theater and situation comedy, "Earnest" suggests that, especially in "civilized" society, we all lead double lives that force upon us a variety of postures, an idea with which the closeted (until his public charge for sodomy) homosexual Wilde was understandably obsessed.
I was very intrigued by the message this short story left me to think about. There is a lot of symbolism within the story just as strong at the message given. “You can fix something that isn't broke.” The story is deeper than most will understand which is what I like the most about it.
John Donne’s poem, A Valediction Forbidding Mourning is a plea written to Donne’s wife asking her not to mourn his absence. The Latin title provides an insight into the poem’s meaning, ‘when we part, we must not mourn’ or in simpler terms, ‘to bid farewell’ (A Valediction Forbidding Mourning, 2009). Donne explains that a maudlin display of emotion would only denigrate their love. This allows the connection to be made that the love shared between Donne and his wife is something more special than that of a normal or mundane relationship. They are sole mates and although they may be physically apart, they will remain together spiritually. Therefore the key discourse found in this poem is one of love.
Aphorism: Only when we come to the end, we decide whether the path is correct--- Paul Valery