--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The paralytic on his couch can have if he…" description: "\"“The paralytic on his couch can have if he wants them wider experiences than Stanley slaughtering the savages, the two roomed cottage may enclose an in..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/192/alice-james-18373_failure_the-paralytic-on-his-couch-can-have-if-h_730969.jpg" --- # The paralytic on his couch can have if he wants them wider… ![“The paralytic on his couch can have if he wants them wider experiences than Stanley slaughtering the savages, the two roomed cottage may enclose an infinitely richer, sweeter domestic harmony than the palace; and the peaceful cotton-spinner win victories beside which those of the reverberating…” quote by Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/192/alice-james-18373_failure_the-paralytic-on-his-couch-can-have-if-h_730969.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/192/alice-james-18373_failure_the-paralytic-on-his-couch-can-have-if-h_730969.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/192/alice-james-18373_failure_the-paralytic-on-his-couch-can-have-if-h_730969.jpg) > ““The paralytic on his couch can have if he wants them wider experiences than Stanley slaughtering the savages, the two roomed cottage may enclose an infinitely richer, sweeter domestic harmony than the palace; and the peaceful cotton-spinner win victories beside which those of the reverberating general are dust and ashes -- let us not waster the sacred fire and wear away the tissues in the vulgar pursuit of what others have and we have not; admitting defeat isn't the way to conquer and from every failure imperishable experience survives”” [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A simple, modest home can offer deeper, sweeter fulfillment than grand ambitions; true victory lies in humble experiences, not in chasing others' possessions. **In simple terms:** Home life can be richer than grand pursuits. Key Takeaway Value everyday harmony over status. Themes domestic life humility contentment Mood contemplative inspirational Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - family life - personal growth - creative work - spiritual practice Key Concepts materialism existential fulfillment Questions to Reflect On - What small joys are you overlooking? - How does simplicity foster resilience? A Different Perspective Neglecting simplicity can lead to emptiness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) ## Related quotes > [If you're a content brand, you have to be in every place your audience is. Sometimes your audience is on the couch and wants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-van-veen/if-you-re-a-content-brand-you-have-to-be-in-every-place-your-audience/) [Ricky Van Veen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-van-veen/) > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. There's no surety in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/don-t-take-too-much-comfort-in-the-fact-that-you-re-successful-today/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/) [Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/) > [“Our failure to understand another being's inner reality doesn't make that reality any less real, or any less valuable to that being. (p.255)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/our-failure-to-understand-another-being-s-inner-reality-doesn-t-make/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/don-t-you-just-hate-nights-like-that-when-you-think-over-every/) [Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/) > [God's love never fail :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-s-love-never-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [First action was a mistake. What about the second? third? fourth and fifth?...Mehn you are bad...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-action-was-a-mistake-what-about-the-second-third-fourth-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life's cycle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/failure-is-a-part-of-life-and-you-have-to-learn-to-deal-with-it/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [“Rhiannon's Law #28: If you're going to fuck up, be sure to fuck up good and proper. Nothing makes failure acceptable, so you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/rhiannon-s-law-28-if-you-re-going-to-fuck-up-be-sure-to-fuck-up-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/no-one-is-completely-unhappy-at-the-failure-of-his-best-friend/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [Failures happen. You can't cry over them. You just take it in your stride because you know that you have done your best... Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/) [Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/) > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) ## More by Alice James > [I make it a rule always to believe compliments implicitly for five minutes, and to simmer gently for twenty more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/i-make-it-a-rule-always-to-believe-compliments-implicitly-for-five/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [What a sense of superiority it gives one to escape reading some book which everyone else is reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/what-a-sense-of-superiority-it-gives-one-to-escape-reading-some-book/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [The success or failure of a life, as far as posterity goes, seems to lie in the more or less luck of seizing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/the-success-or-failure-of-a-life-as-far-as-posterity-goes-seems-to/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [If I can get on to my sofa and occupy myself for four hours, at intervals through the day, scribbling my notes, and able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/if-i-can-get-on-to-my-sofa-and-occupy-myself-for-four-hours-at/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [How heroic to be able to suppress one's vanity to the extent of confessing that the game is too hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/how-heroic-to-be-able-to-suppress-one-s-vanity-to-the-extent-of/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [The gain isn't counted to the recluse and inactive that, having nothing to measure themselves by and never being tested by failure, they simmer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/the-gain-isn-t-counted-to-the-recluse-and-inactive-that-having/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [How sick one gets of being "good," how much I should respect myself if I could burst out and make everyone wretched for twenty-four…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/how-sick-one-gets-of-being-good-how-much-i-should-respect-myself-if-i/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [When will women begin to have the first glimmer that above all other loyalties is the loyalty toTruth, i.e., to yourself, that husband, children,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/when-will-women-begin-to-have-the-first-glimmer-that-above-all-other/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [I wonder whether if I had an education I should have been more or less a fool that I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/i-wonder-whether-if-i-had-an-education-i-should-have-been-more-or/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [It is an immense loss to have all robust and sustaining expletives refined away from one! At. moments of trial refinement is a feeble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/it-is-an-immense-loss-to-have-all-robust-and-sustaining-expletives/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [Though I have no productive worth, I have a certain value as an indestructible quantity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/though-i-have-no-productive-worth-i-have-a-certain-value-as-an/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [How fatally the entire want of humor cripples the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/how-fatally-the-entire-want-of-humor-cripples-the-mind/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [The difficulty about all this dying, is that you can't tell a fellow anything about it, so where does the fun come in?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/the-difficulty-about-all-this-dying-is-that-you-can-t-tell-a-fellow/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [“I was born bad and I never have recovered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/i-was-born-bad-and-i-never-have-recovered/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) > [“Sargy always had the capacities of a cormorant, so he is able to swallow her whole, not having to think about her as she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/sargy-always-had-the-capacities-of-a-cormorant-so-he-is-able-to/) [Alice James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) [Explore all 35 Alice James quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/) ## More Failure quotes > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [Failures happen. You can't cry over them. You just take it in your stride because you know that you have done your best... Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/) [Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/) > [No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/no-one-is-completely-unhappy-at-the-failure-of-his-best-friend/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [“Rhiannon's Law #28: If you're going to fuck up, be sure to fuck up good and proper. Nothing makes failure acceptable, so you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/rhiannon-s-law-28-if-you-re-going-to-fuck-up-be-sure-to-fuck-up-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life's cycle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/failure-is-a-part-of-life-and-you-have-to-learn-to-deal-with-it/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [First action was a mistake. What about the second? third? fourth and fifth?...Mehn you are bad...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-action-was-a-mistake-what-about-the-second-third-fourth-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [God's love never fail :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-s-love-never-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/don-t-you-just-hate-nights-like-that-when-you-think-over-every/) [Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/) > [“Our failure to understand another being's inner reality doesn't make that reality any less real, or any less valuable to that being. (p.255)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/our-failure-to-understand-another-being-s-inner-reality-doesn-t-make/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/) [Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. There's no surety in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/don-t-take-too-much-comfort-in-the-fact-that-you-re-successful-today/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [As we are coming to the end of the year, I want you to forget about the past, the failure, the negative thoughts or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-we-are-coming-to-the-end-of-the-year-i-want-you-to-forget-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 27,498 Failure quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The paralytic on his couch can have if he wants them wider experiences than Stanley slaughtering the savages, the two roomed cottage may enclose an infinitely richer, sweeter domestic harmony than the palace; and the peaceful cotton-spinner win victories beside which those of the reverberating general are dust and ashes -- let us not waster the sacred fire and wear away the tissues in the vulgar pursuit of what others have and we have not; admitting defeat isn't the way to conquer and from every failure imperishable experience survives”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice James" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/the-paralytic-on-his-couch-can-have-if-he-wants-them-wider/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Failure" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/the-paralytic-on-his-couch-can-have-if-he-wants-them-wider/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/192/alice-james-18373_failure_the-paralytic-on-his-couch-can-have-if-h_730969.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/192/alice-james-18373_failure_the-paralytic-on-his-couch-can-have-if-h_730969.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/192/alice-james-18373_failure_the-paralytic-on-his-couch-can-have-if-h_730969.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The paralytic on his couch can have if he wants them wider experiences than Stanley slaughtering the…” — Alice James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alice James", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-james/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The paralytic on his couch can...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/the-paralytic-on-his-couch-can-have-if-he-wants-them-wider/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-james/the-paralytic-on-his-couch-can-have-if-he-wants-them-wider/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```