Sweet recreation barred, what doth ensue
But moody and dull melancholy,
Kinsman to a grim and comfortless read more

Sweet recreation barred, what doth ensue
But moody and dull melancholy,
Kinsman to a grim and comfortless despair,
And at her heels a huge infectious troop
Of pale distemperatures and foes to life?

Meagre were his looks,
Sharp misery had worn him to the bones;
And in his needy shop read more

Meagre were his looks,
Sharp misery had worn him to the bones;
And in his needy shop a tortoise hung,
An alligator stuffed, and other skins
Of ill-shaped fishes; and about his shelves
A beggarly account of boxes,
Green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds,
Remnants of packthread, and old cakes of roses
Were thinly scattered, to make up a show.

It is seldom that the miserable of the world can help regarding their misery as a wrong inflicted by those read more

It is seldom that the miserable of the world can help regarding their misery as a wrong inflicted by those who are less miserable.

The wretched hasten to hear of their own miseries.
[Lat., Miserias properant suas
Audire miseri.]

The wretched hasten to hear of their own miseries.
[Lat., Miserias properant suas
Audire miseri.]

Part of every misery is, so to speak, the misery's shadow or reflection: the fact that you don't merely suffer read more

Part of every misery is, so to speak, the misery's shadow or reflection: the fact that you don't merely suffer but have to keep on thinking about the fact that you suffer. I not only live each endless day in grief, but live each day thinking about living each day in grief.

Fire tries gold, misery tries brave men.
[Lat., Ignis aurum probat, misera fortes viros.]

Fire tries gold, misery tries brave men.
[Lat., Ignis aurum probat, misera fortes viros.]

Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.

Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.

The child of misery, baptized in tears!

The child of misery, baptized in tears!

Whoever is spared personal pain must feel himself called to help in diminishing the pain of others. We must all read more

Whoever is spared personal pain must feel himself called to help in diminishing the pain of others. We must all carry our share of the misery which lies upon the world.