Quote by Alexander Herzen

If nations always moved from one set of furnished rooms to another -- and always into a better set -- things might be easier, but the trouble is that there is no one to prepare the new rooms. The future is worse than the ocean -- there is nothing there. It will be what men and circumstances make it.

If nations always moved from one set of furnished rooms to a

Summary

This quote reflects the idea that progress and improvement in nations is not automatic or predefined. It suggests that nations cannot simply move from one "furnished room" (or state) to another, always expecting improvement. The challenge lies in the fact that there is no one to fully prepare these new rooms, symbolizing the unknown and uncertain nature of the future. The quote implies that the future is like an empty, undefined space ("worse than the ocean") which can only be shaped by the actions, decisions, and circumstances of individuals and society.

Topics

Nationalism Nation Nationality

By Alexander Herzen

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

You owe it to yourself to be the best person possible. Becau

You owe it to yourself to be the best person possible. Because if you are, others will want to be with you, want to provide you with the things you want in exchange for what you're giving to them.

You can't underestimate the power of fear.

You can't underestimate the power of fear.

Fear

Dating is different when you get older. You're not as trusti

Dating is different when you get older. You're not as trusting, or as eager to get back out there and expose yourself to someone.

Dating

When my dad needed a shirt ironed, he would yell downstairs

When my dad needed a shirt ironed, he would yell downstairs to my mother, who would drop everything and iron his shirt.

Dad

On his deathbed Death, the only immortal who treats us all a

On his deathbed Death, the only immortal who treats us all alike, whose pity and whose peace and whose refuse are for all the soiled and the pure, the rich and the poor, the loved and the unloved.

It is extraordinary that when you are acquainted with a whol

It is extraordinary that when you are acquainted with a whole family you can forget about them.

Famous

It's not enough that I should succeed - others should fail.

It's not enough that I should succeed - others should fail.

Innovation has nothing to do with how many R amp& D dollars

Innovation has nothing to do with how many R amp& D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R &amp D. It's not about money. It's about the people you have, how you're led, and how much you get it.

There is as much difference between the counsel that a frien

There is as much difference between the counsel that a friend giveth, and that a man giveth himself, as there is between the counsel of a friend and of a flatterer. For there is no such flatterer as is a man's self.

Advice

When one pays a visit it is for the purpose of wasting other

When one pays a visit it is for the purpose of wasting other people's time, not one's own.

Communism

There is this paradox in pride -- it makes some men ridiculo

There is this paradox in pride -- it makes some men ridiculous, but prevents others from becoming so.

Charles Caleb Colton

Pride

If a superior give any order to one who is under him which i

If a superior give any order to one who is under him which is against that man's conscience, although he do not obey it yet he shall not be dismissed.

Saint Francis of Assisi

Conscience