Quotes About Comparison

Lord Edward took a scientific interest in the sexual activities of axolotls and chickens, guinea pigs and frogs; but any reference to the corresponding activities of humans made him painfully uncomfortable.

Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations of misery.

La felicidad real siempre aparece escuálida por comparación con las compensaciones que ofrece la desdicha. Y, naturalmente, la estabilidad no es, ni con mucho, tan espectacular como la inestabilidad. Y estar satisfecho de todo no posee el hechizo de una buena lucha contra la desventura, ni el pintoresquismo del combate contra la tentación o contra una pasión fatal o una duda. La felicidad nunca tiene grandeza.

Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery.

La felicidad real siempre aparece escuálida en comparación con las compensaciones que ofrece la desdicha.

American Notes

La actual felicidad siempre parece muy menguada en comparación de las compensaciones que brinda la miseria. (...) La felicidad nunca es grandiosa.

La felicidad es un patrón muy duro, especialmente la felicidad de los demás.

A word only stands for the ways in which things or happenings of the same general kind are like one another. That's why the word is public. And, being public, it can't possibly stand for the ways in which happenings of the same general kind are unlike one another.

La felicità effettiva sembra sempre molto squallida in confronto ai grandi compensi che la miseria trova. E si capisce anche che la stabilità non è neppure emozionante come l'instabilità. E l'essere contenti non ha nulla di affascinante al paragone di una buona lotta contro la sfortuna, nulla del pittoresco di una lotta contro la tentazione, o di una fatale sconfitta a causa della passione o del dubbio. La felicità non è mai grandiosa.

La felicidad real siempre aparece escuálida por comparación con las compensaciones que ofrece la desdicha. Y, naturalmente, la estabilidad no es, ni con mucho, tan espectacular como la inestabilidad. Estar satisfecho de todo no posee el encanto que supone mantener una lucha justa contra la infelicidad, ni el pintoresquismo del combate contra la tentación o contra una pasión fatal o una duda. La felicidad nunca tiene grandeza.

No hay felicidad o infelicidad en este mundo; solo hay comparación de un estado con otro. Solo un hombre que ha sentido la máxima desesperación es capaz de sentir la máxima felicidad. Es necesario haber deseado morir para saber lo bueno que es vivir.

I'd like to know, who is more stupid and stubborn in this case – the donkey or the man?

A rock is heavy and sand is weighty too, but the anger of a fool is heavier than both.

Protestations of happiness could sound almost boasting to those whose happiness is incomplete. One did not boast of perfect skin to one affected by dermatitis; for the same reason, perhaps, one should take care in proclaiming one's happiness.

Perhaps if you don't know there's a gap, you don't worry about it. If you were a millipede, a tshongololo , crawling along the ground would you look at the birds and worry about not having wings? Probably not.

Telling a person with toothache that there are others with greater toothache than their own was no help at all.

Could you say that your business had expanded if it had gone from owning one teapot to two? Somehow she thought that Dr. Profit would answer both those questions with a shake of his head. Of course, she herself had expanded in girth since the agency was founded, but she did not think that such a form of growth was what the author of the article had in mind.

Lions walk on four legs, observed Mma Makutsi. Was this man walking on four legs? That can be a big giveaway, Mma.

When she had lived in Bobonong the houses seemed perfectly normal to her and the house in which her family lived had seemed quite comfortable. But looking at it with eyes that had seen Gaborone, and the large buildings there, their house had seemed mean and cramped.

Bim allowed herself to smile as the thought occurred to her that perhaps the reason why Signe had two boyfriends was that if you put them together, with their obvious defects, you would end up with one, complete boyfriend.

By comparison with such lives, our days were inconsequential indeed, and yet even though our canvas was small, still we could paint a masterpiece—as long as we were content for it to be a miniature.

like yearning to be a swan when you were demonstrably a bird of a different feather;

Time was the first thing I noticed about the United States.