Nathaniel Hawthorne: Dungheap

Posted by admin on Thursday, December 17, 2020

Nathaniel Hawthorne Money Quote saying we can die in many ways and our soul is still extinguished, even when buried with money. Nathaniel Hawthorne said:
 

 

“A man’s soul may be buried and perish under a dungheap or in a furrow of the field, just as well as under a pile of money” — Nathaniel Hawthorne

 

 

In this quote, Nathaniel Hawthorne seems to be commenting on how single-minded devotion to acquiring wealth risks impoverishing one’s inner spiritual life. By stating that a man’s soul can “perish under a dungheap or in a furrow of the field, just as well as under a pile of money”, Hawthorne implies that obsessively laboring for financial gain without balance can deaden one’s humanity and capacity for deeper fulfillment, just as physically taxing jobs lacking purpose can.

The quote conveys Hawthorne’s perspective that focusing solely on accumulating riches without attention to cultivating one’s mind, values and relationships through life’s varied experiences can impoverish the soul, even amid great wealth. Overall, he appears to be advocating for moderation and multiplicity of interests to avoid becoming diminished in our humanity through any extreme of toil without reward or meaning.

Nathaniel Hawthorne: Rewards of Writing

Posted by admin on Saturday, August 28, 2010

Nathaniel Hawthorne Money quote saying that getting paid is the final of three dividends of writing – from a letter written in 1851.
 

 

“The only sensible ends of literature are, first, the pleasurable toil of writing; second, the gratification of one’s family and friends; and lastly, the solid cash” — Nathaniel Hawthorne