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To have seen you and your unforgotten face, Brave as a blast of trumpets for the fray, Pure as white lilies in a watery space, It were something, though you went from me today. To have known the things that from the weak are furled, Perilous ancient passions, strange and high; It is something to be wiser than the world, It is something to be older than the sky.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton#181

WisdomCourageLoveLossMemoryTransience

About this quote

What does it mean?
Knowing someone brave and pure or feeling ancient passions is valuable even if they leave. Being wiser and older than the world is a rare gift.
In plain terms
Meeting brave people and feeling strong passions makes life better even if they leave.
What can you take from it?
Connection and wisdom are valuable even when temporary.

Where it applies

  • farewells
  • romantic loss
  • intellectual growth

Putting it to work

  • cherish memories
  • value brief encounters
  • pursue wisdom

Questions to consider

  • What brief encounters shaped you?
  • Is wisdom a burden or a gift?

Another view

Valuing abstract wisdom over connection can feel isolating.

More from Gilbert Keith Chesterton

  1. It is something to have wept as we have wept, It is something to have done as we have done, It is something to have watched when all men slept, And seen the st…

    Permalink to quote #180
  2. In the city built upon slime and loam, They cry in their Parliament, 'Who goes home?' And there comes no answer in arch or dome, For none in the city of graves…

    Permalink to quote #182
  3. In a time of sceptic moths and cynic rusts, And fattened lives that of their sweetness tire In a world of flying loves and fading lusts, It is something to be …

    Permalink to quote #179

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