--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Why dost thou shrink from my approach, O…" description: "\"Why dost thou shrink from my approach, O Man? Why dost thou ever flee in fear, and cling To my false rival, Life? I do but bring Thee rest and calm. Th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e2/ella-wheeler-wilcox-1442_approach_why-dost-thou-shrink-from-my-approach-o_26408.jpg" --- # Why dost thou shrink from my approach, O Man? Why dost… ![“Why dost thou shrink from my approach, O Man? Why dost thou ever flee in fear, and cling To my false rival, Life? I do but bring Thee rest and calm. Then wherefore dost thou ban And curse me? Since the forming of God's plan I have not hurt or harmed a mortal thing, I have bestowed sweet balm for…” quote by Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e2/ella-wheeler-wilcox-1442_approach_why-dost-thou-shrink-from-my-approach-o_26408.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e2/ella-wheeler-wilcox-1442_approach_why-dost-thou-shrink-from-my-approach-o_26408.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e2/ella-wheeler-wilcox-1442_approach_why-dost-thou-shrink-from-my-approach-o_26408.jpg) > “Why dost thou shrink from my approach, O Man? Why dost thou ever flee in fear, and cling To my false rival, Life? I do but bring Thee rest and calm. Then wherefore dost thou ban And curse me? Since the forming of God's plan I have not hurt or harmed a mortal thing, I have bestowed sweet balm for every sting, And peace eternal for earth's stormy span.” [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker challenges humanity’s fear of death, asserting that death offers peace and relief rather than harm, and questions why people cling to life despite its suffering. **In simple terms:** Death as a peaceful release Key Takeaway Death is a balm, not a foe Themes mortality fear peace acceptance transcendence Mood reflective somber hopeful Type philosophical poetic spiritual When to use this quote - grieving a loss - facing terminal illness - contemplating existential dread - seeking solace after trauma Key Concepts death life suffering relief Practical Applications - counseling on end‑of‑life decisions - philosophical writing on mortality Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean to view death as a comfort? - How might embracing death change our relationship with life? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Approach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approach/) [Calm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calm/) [Curse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curse/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Eternal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternal/) [God 's plan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-s-plan-2/) [God'S Plan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-s-plan/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mortals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mortals/) [Rivals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivals/) [Sad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sad/) [Sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadness/) [Shrinks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shrinks/) [Stormy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stormy/) ## Related quotes > [“yea dost thou fall upon thy face? thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-leong/yea-dost-thou-fall-upon-thy-face-thou-wilt-fall-backward-when-thou/) Sonia Leong > [“Thou wanton: dost thou dare call me noodle?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-shaw/thou-wanton-dost-thou-dare-call-me-noodle/) [Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-shaw/) > [Only through Beauty's morning-gate, dost thou penetrate the land of knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/only-through-beauty-s-morning-gate-dost-thou-penetrate-the-land-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [O accursed hunger of gold, to what dost thou not compel human hearts!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virgil/o-accursed-hunger-of-gold-to-what-dost-thou-not-compel-human-hearts/) [Virgil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virgil/) > [Know thy birth! For dost thou art, and shalt to dust return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/know-thy-birth-for-dost-thou-art-and-shalt-to-dust-return/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Alas, O Lord, to what a state dost Thou bring those who love Thee!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-of-vila/alas-o-lord-to-what-a-state-dost-thou-bring-those-who-love-thee/) [Teresa of Avila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-of-vila/) > [Little Lamb, who made thee? Dost thou know who made thee?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/little-lamb-who-made-thee-dost-thou-know-who-made-thee/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Why dost thou heap up wealth, which thou must quit, Or what is worse, be left by it? Why dost thou load thyself when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-cowley/why-dost-thou-heap-up-wealth-which-thou-must-quit-or-what-is-worse-be/) [Abraham Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-cowley/) > [“BUSY old fool, unruly Sun, Why dost thou thus, Through windows, and through curtains, call on us?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/busy-old-fool-unruly-sun-why-dost-thou-thus-through-windows-and/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Spirit of BEAUTY, that dost consecrate With thine own hues all thou dost shine upon Of human thought or form, where art thou gone?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/spirit-of-beauty-that-dost-consecrate-with-thine-own-hues-all-thou/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [If he was winter, I was summer. If I was sunshine, he was night. A dark and stormy one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/if-he-was-winter-i-was-summer-if-i-was-sunshine-he-was-night-a-dark/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [My trust in God flows out of the experience of his loving me, day in and day out, whether the day is stormy or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brennan-manning/my-trust-in-god-flows-out-of-the-experience-of-his-loving-me-day-in/) [Brennan Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brennan-manning/) > [Here - at this final hour, Harlem has come to bid farewell to one of its brightest hopes - extinguished now, and gone from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ossie-davis/here-at-this-final-hour-harlem-has-come-to-bid-farewell-to-one-of-its/) [Ossie Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ossie-davis/) > [Lord, I have loved Your sky, Be it said against or for me, Have loved it clear and high, Or low and stormy...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/lord-i-have-loved-your-sky-be-it-said-against-or-for-me-have-loved-it/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [My soul is dark with stormy riot: directly traced over to diet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-hoffenstein/my-soul-is-dark-with-stormy-riot-directly-traced-over-to-diet/) [Samuel Hoffenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-hoffenstein/) ## More by Ella Wheeler Wilcox > [A day which passed without a poem from my pen I considered lost and misused.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/a-day-which-passed-without-a-poem-from-my-pen-i-considered-lost-and/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [Talk health. The dreary, never-changing tale Of mortal maladies is worn and stale. You cannot charm, or interest, or please By harping in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/talk-health-the-dreary-never-changing-tale-of-mortal-maladies-is-worn/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [With every rising of the sun Think of your life as just begun. The past has shrived and buried deep All yesterdays— there let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/with-every-rising-of-the-sun-think-of-your-life-as-just-begun-the/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [“Why, even Death stands still and waits an hour for such a will.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/why-even-death-stands-still-and-waits-an-hour-for-such-a-will/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [Better to wait and yearn, and still to wait, And die at last with unappeased desire, Than live to be the jest of such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/better-to-wait-and-yearn-and-still-to-wait-and-die-at-last-with/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [Love lights more fires than hate extinguishes, and men grow better as the world grows old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/love-lights-more-fires-than-hate-extinguishes-and-men-grow-better-as/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [Back on its golden hinges The gate of Memory swings, And my heart goes into the garden And walks with the olden things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/back-on-its-golden-hinges-the-gate-of-memory-swings-and-my-heart-goes/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [I hold it true that thoughts are things Endowed with bodies, breath, and wings, And that we send them forth to fill The world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/i-hold-it-true-that-thoughts-are-things-endowed-with-bodies-breath/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [All perfect things are saddening in effect. The autumn wood robed in its scarlet clothes, The matchless tinting on the royal rose Whose velvet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/all-perfect-things-are-saddening-in-effect-the-autumn-wood-robed-in/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [Content is not the pathway to great deeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/content-is-not-the-pathway-to-great-deeds/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [Don't anticipate the happiness of tomorrow. Discover it today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/don-t-anticipate-the-happiness-of-tomorrow-discover-it-today/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [“And yet I would not be a child again. For surely as the night succeeds the day, So surely will their mirth turn into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/and-yet-i-would-not-be-a-child-again-for-surely-as-the-night-succeeds/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [Day's sweetest moments are at dawn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/day-s-sweetest-moments-are-at-dawn/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [Oh! not for the great departed, Who formed our country's laws, And not for the bravest-hearted, Who died in freedom's cause, And not for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/oh-not-for-the-great-departed-who-formed-our-country-s-laws-and-not/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [Let me, tonight look back across the span Twixt dawn and dark, and to my conscience say- Because of some good act to beast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/let-me-tonight-look-back-across-the-span-twixt-dawn-and-dark-and-to/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) [Explore all 240 Ella Wheeler Wilcox quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) ## More Approach quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [I'm in a business where there's complete anarchy. You can't control it - you can only react to it. The control that people traditionally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-sorrell/i-m-in-a-business-where-there-s-complete-anarchy-you-can-t-control-it/) [Martin Sorrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-sorrell/) > [When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minor-white/when-you-approach-something-to-photograph-it-first-be-still-with/) [Minor White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minor-white/) > [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) > [One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/one-of-the-things-i-regret-about-not-putting-in-that-book-or-i-think/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [Ideal for the child and society in the best of times, Rudolf Steiner's brilliant process of education is critically needed and profoundly relevant now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-chilton-pearce/ideal-for-the-child-and-society-in-the-best-of-times-rudolf-steiner-s/) [Joseph Chilton Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-chilton-pearce/) > [I don't have any particular method, my approach is very simple. I try to understand the emotional graph of the character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pratik-gandhi/i-don-t-have-any-particular-method-my-approach-is-very-simple-i-try/) [Pratik Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pratik-gandhi/) > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everything, every part that you approach has to be somehow rooted in yourself. You have to somehow root everything so that it's not just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judi-dench/everything-every-part-that-you-approach-has-to-be-somehow-rooted-in/) [Judi Dench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judi-dench/) > [Literature transforms and intensifies ordinary language, deviates systematically from everyday speech. If you approach me at a bus stop and murmur Thou still unravished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/literature-transforms-and-intensifies-ordinary-language-deviates/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [The whole secret to mastering the game of golf - and this applies to the beginner as well as the pro - is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-palmer/the-whole-secret-to-mastering-the-game-of-golf-and-this-applies-to/) [Arnold Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-palmer/) > [The essence of Christianity...is an ever-new encounter with... the God who speaks to us, who approaches us and who befriends us!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/the-essence-of-christianity-is-an-ever-new-encounter-with-the-god-who/) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/) > [Like a morning dream, life becomes more and more bright the longer we live, and the reason of everything appears more clear. What has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul/like-a-morning-dream-life-becomes-more-and-more-bright-the-longer-we/) [Jean Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul/) > [What begins as a Utopian vision, always - always - ends in bloodshed. Because you have to force a utopia on a free people.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-gutfeld/what-begins-as-a-utopian-vision-always-always-ends-in-bloodshed/) [Greg Gutfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-gutfeld/) > [The only two good words that can be said for a hurricane are that it gives sufficient warning of its approach, and that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-atherton/the-only-two-good-words-that-can-be-said-for-a-hurricane-are-that-it/) [Gertrude Atherton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-atherton/) [Browse all 3,949 Approach quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approach/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Why dost thou shrink from my approach, O Man? Why dost thou ever flee in fear, and cling To my false rival, Life? I do but bring Thee rest and calm. Then wherefore dost thou ban And curse me? 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