Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is full of people wanting the wrong things for reasons they do not fully understand. Pip wants to become a gentleman. Miss Havisham wants revenge. Estella has been taught to keep love at arm’s length, while Joe quietly demonstrates the kind of loyalty Pip spends years taking for granted. Along […]
book quotes
What Does “It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times” Mean?
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” means that hope and suffering can exist at the same time. Charles Dickens opens A Tale of Two Cities with a world full of contradictions, where progress sits beside inequality and optimism exists alongside fear. However, the famous line does more than describe […]
What Does “Better to Be Feared Than Loved” Really Mean?
Machiavelli’s most famous advice sounds simple: if people love you, they may betray you, so make sure they fear you instead. The actual argument is more complicated. To understand the better to be feared than loved meaning, you have to read what Machiavelli says before and after the famous line. He wanted a ruler to […]
19 Machiavelli Quotes on Power That Explain How Influence Really Works
Machiavelli has spent five centuries being blamed for almost every ruthless piece of advice about politics, including several things he never actually said. Yet the most revealing Machiavelli quotes on power are more complicated than the internet version of him suggests. He wrote about fear, reputation, loyalty, deception, judgment, and the uncomfortable gap between how […]
21 Mr Darcy Quotes That Explain Why We Still Fall for Him
Mr Darcy has been annoying readers and winning them over since Pride and Prejudice appeared in 1813. Impressive staying power for a man who begins his romance by refusing to dance with Elizabeth Bennet and insulting her within earshot. Yet the best Mr Darcy quotes reveal why Jane Austen’s famously proud gentleman became such an […]
Know Your Enemy and Know Yourself Meaning: What Sun Tzu Meant
“Know your enemy and know yourself” sounds like advice for generals on a battlefield. Yet the know your enemy and know yourself meaning still feels surprisingly useful today, especially at work, in business, during conflict, and when making big decisions. Sun Tzu was not simply telling people to study an opponent. His larger point was […]