Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1939-04-01), “My Day”

Dave — Wed, 28 May 2008 10:22:41 +0000

Like everything else in the world, however, there is a price to pay for love, for the more happiness we derive from the existence and companionship of other human beings, the more vulnerable we are when there is any cause for apprehension. It takes courage to love, but pain through love is the purifying fire which those who live generously know. We all know people who are so much afraid of pain that they shut themselves up like clams in a shell and, giving out nothing, receive nothing and therefore shrink until life is a mere living death.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1939-04-01), “My Day”
(Source)

Written following the birth of her grandson, John Roosevelt Boettiger.

WIST Quotations

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1939-04-01), “My Day”