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About this quote

What does it mean?
Human discontent arises from possessing an infinite spirit that cannot be fully contained by material limitations.
In plain terms
People are unhappy because they have big dreams that life cannot satisfy.
What can you take from it?
Accept that your inner capacity exceeds worldly confines.

Where it applies

  • personal reflection
  • philosophical discussion
  • existential crisis

Putting it to work

  • journaling about inner conflicts
  • studying metaphysics

Questions to consider

  • What limits do you feel in your life?
  • How do you cope with unmet expectations?

Another view

It assumes unhappiness is solely due to spiritual excess.

More from Thomas Carlyle

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  2. Close thy Byron; open thy Goethe.

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  3. Man is a tool-using animal...Without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all.

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