We look before and after,
And pine for what is not,
Our sincerest laughter
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We look before and after,
And pine for what is not,
Our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught:
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.

'Tis impious in a good man to be sad.

'Tis impious in a good man to be sad.

Anger, tears and sadness are only for those who have given up

Anger, tears and sadness are only for those who have given up

Child of mortality, whence comest thou? Why is thy countenance
sad, and why are thine eyes red with weeping?

Child of mortality, whence comest thou? Why is thy countenance
sad, and why are thine eyes red with weeping?

Nobody deserves your tears, but whoever deserves them will not make you cry.

Nobody deserves your tears, but whoever deserves them will not make you cry.

No society has been able to abolish human sadness, no political system can deliver us from the pain of living, read more

No society has been able to abolish human sadness, no political system can deliver us from the pain of living, from our fear of death, our thirst for the absolute. It is the human condition that directs the social condition, not vice versa.

The human mind can bear plenty of reality but not too much intermittent gloom.

The human mind can bear plenty of reality but not too much intermittent gloom.

Yet be sad, good brothers,
For, by my faith, it very well becomes you.
Sorrow so royally read more

Yet be sad, good brothers,
For, by my faith, it very well becomes you.
Sorrow so royally in you appears
That I will deeply put the fashion on
And wear it in my heart.

Of all tales 'tis the saddest--and more sad,
Because it makes us smile.

Of all tales 'tis the saddest--and more sad,
Because it makes us smile.