"Grief can take care of itself; but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with." (Following the Equator)
I really liked this quote because I believe it has a lot of truth in it. I have never thought about the fact that in order to be entirely joyful, one must share the experience with someone. When thinking about the happiest moments in my life, they all involve at least one other person whom with I shared the joy. Even when something really good happens in my life, the first thing I want to do is share the good news with one of my friends or loved ones. By dividing the joy, the emotion itself amplifies and multiplies.
On the other hand, grief as Mark Twain mentions can be dealt with by oneself and still have the same severe effect. During times of sorrow, I like to be alone and handle the situation on my own terms. No one can fully share another's grief because everyone handles grief differently. Whereas, joy is fairly universal and almost everyone responds to joy in a similar way. Both grief and joy have the power to bring people together. For example, weddings (time of joy) and funerals (time of grief) both bring family and friends together. However, a person can grieve on their own but a person needs company in order to completely experience total bliss.
Bailey - I totally agree with your ideas! I really liked this quote as well, because it's something that has become more apparent to me this semester within new and old friendships. In the book Into the Wild, the author states something similar to this: "Happiness is only real when shared." This is the same idea which Twain expressed. Our happiest moments seems to be when we share our experiences with others, and you're right that the joy multiplies when we do this. Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteI really think you said it all Bailey! There seems to be an interesting irony about garnering the true value of something like joy; The only way to truly possess it, is to share it!
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