The morning after I received this message, I arose and…
““The morning after I received this message, I arose and resumed my usual occupations; but from whatever cause it may have proceeded, I felt a sense of approaching evil hang heavily upon me; the beats of my pulse were languid, and an undefinable feeling of anxiety pervaded my whole spirit; even my face was pale, and my eye so heavy, that my father and brothers concluded me to be ill; an opinion which I thought at the time to be correct; for I felt exactly that kind of depression which precedes a severe fever. I could not understand what I experienced, nor can I yet, except by supposing that there is in human nature some mysterious faculty, by which, in coming calamities, the approach throws forward the shadow of some fearful evil, and that it is possible to catch a dark anticipation of the sensations which they subsequently produce. For my part I can neither analyze nor define it; but on that day I knew it by painful experience, and so have a thousand others in similar circumstances.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
A premonition of impending disaster creates physical and emotional distress, hinting at an instinctive, mysterious human faculty that senses future calamities.
In simple terms: Feeling a vague dread before trouble arrives.
Key Takeaway
Trust your gut feelings but verify them.
Themes
anxiety
foreboding
instinct
health
psychology
Mood
uneasy
reflective
cautious
Type
literary
psychological
philosophical
When to use this quote
- illness onset
- storm approaching
- financial crisis
- exam anxiety
- personal loss
Key Concepts
premonition
psychosomatic response
human intuition
Questions to Reflect On
- What signs do you ignore that might be warnings?
- How can you differentiate intuition from anxiety?
A Different Perspective
Such intuition can be unreliable and may cause unnecessary panic.