--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [On being deaf:] We can never get beyond…" description: "\"[On being deaf:] We can never get beyond the necessity of keeping in full view the worst and the best that can be made of our lot. The worst is, either..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0b/harriet-martineau-6736_callous_on-being-deaf-we-can-never-get-beyond-th_434918.png" --- # \[On being deaf:\] We can never get beyond the necessity of… ![“[On being deaf:] We can never get beyond the necessity of keeping in full view the worst and the best that can be made of our lot. The worst is, either to sink under the trial, or to be made callous by it. The best is, to be as wise as is possible under a great disability, and as happy as is…” quote by Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0b/harriet-martineau-6736_callous_on-being-deaf-we-can-never-get-beyond-th_434918.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0b/harriet-martineau-6736_callous_on-being-deaf-we-can-never-get-beyond-th_434918.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0b/harriet-martineau-6736_callous_on-being-deaf-we-can-never-get-beyond-th_434918.png) > “\[On being deaf:\] We can never get beyond the necessity of keeping in full view the worst and the best that can be made of our lot. The worst is, either to sink under the trial, or to be made callous by it. The best is, to be as wise as is possible under a great disability, and as happy as is possible under a great privation.” [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Facing severe limitations forces us to confront both the danger of despair and the opportunity for profound wisdom and happiness. **In simple terms:** Disability reveals both suffering and growth possibilities. Key Takeaway Seek wisdom and joy despite hardship. Themes resilience wisdom disability happiness adversity Mood reflective determined hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal crisis - chronic illness - career setbacks - social marginalization Key Concepts Stoicism existential growth psychology Questions to Reflect On - How can you cultivate wisdom when faced with loss? - What practices help maintain happiness amid deprivation? A Different Perspective Overcoming hardship may require external support and resources, not just inner resolve. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Disability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disability/) [Trial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trial/) [Trials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trials/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) ## Related quotes > [ \[On being deaf:\] We must struggle for whatever may be had, without encroaching on the comfort of others. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/on-being-deaf-we-must-struggle-for-whatever-may-be-had-without/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) > [Humans call animals 'dumb'... after they robbed their entire own precious world. They are intelligent beings in their own right, and thoroughly self-sufficient... if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adela-popescu/humans-call-animals-dumb-after-they-robbed-their-entire-own-precious/) [Adela Popescu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adela-popescu/) > [“A tearless heart is a callous heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-george/a-tearless-heart-is-a-callous-heart/) [Jim George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-george/) > [How many students ... were rendered callous to ideas, and how many lost the impetus to learn because of the way in which learning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/how-many-students-were-rendered-callous-to-ideas-and-how-many-lost/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [I suggest we depict penguins as callous and unfeeling creatures who insist on bringing up their children in what is little more than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-fforde/i-suggest-we-depict-penguins-as-callous-and-unfeeling-creatures-who/) [Jasper Fforde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-fforde/) > [One of the fundamental reasons why so many doctors become cynical and disillusioned is precisely because, when the abstract idealism has worn thin, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/one-of-the-fundamental-reasons-why-so-many-doctors-become-cynical-and/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [In my blood there is no Jewish blood. In their callous rage, all anti-Semites must hate me now as a Jew. For that reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-yevtushenko/in-my-blood-there-is-no-jewish-blood-in-their-callous-rage-all-anti/) [Yevgeny Yevtushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-yevtushenko/) > [Is it because you are sunk in the cruelty of superstition, or feel no interest in the honor of your Creator, that you listen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/is-it-because-you-are-sunk-in-the-cruelty-of-superstition-or-feel-no/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [“I have found that happiness is a defiant act of bravery in spite of a callous world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-newman/i-have-found-that-happiness-is-a-defiant-act-of-bravery-in-spite-of-a/) [Liz Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-newman/) > [Evolution is, as well as smarter than we are, infinitely more callous and cruel, and also capricious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/evolution-is-as-well-as-smarter-than-we-are-infinitely-more-callous/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Among sportsmen are the noble, the diligent and the caring, as there are the callous, the cheats and the criminals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harsha-bhogle/among-sportsmen-are-the-noble-the-diligent-and-the-caring-as-there/) [Harsha Bhogle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harsha-bhogle/) > [There exists in this country, sadly, a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells and stows violence against its own people through vicious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-lapierre/there-exists-in-this-country-sadly-a-callous-corrupt-and-corrupting/) [Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-lapierre/) > [And the point is, is it possible for the mind to be totally free from suffering and yet not become indifferent, callous, irresponsible, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/and-the-point-is-is-it-possible-for-the-mind-to-be-totally-free-from/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [Remember chief of staff Rahm Emanuel's callous enjoinder 'you never want a serious crisis to go to waste'? This White House is a serious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-tyrrell/remember-chief-of-staff-rahm-emanuel-s-callous-enjoinder-you-never/) [Bob Tyrrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-tyrrell/) > [Me seeing how thick my callous is on my hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-country/me-seeing-how-thick-my-callous-is-on-my-hand/) [Michael Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-country/) ## More by Harriet Martineau > [There have been few things in my life which have had a more genial effect on my mind than the possession of a piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/there-have-been-few-things-in-my-life-which-have-had-a-more-genial/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) > [it is a testament to the strength and purity of the democratic sentiment in the country, that the republic has not been overthrown by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/it-is-a-testament-to-the-strength-and-purity-of-the-democratic/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) > [School is no place of education for any children whatever till their minds are well put in action. This is the work which has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/school-is-no-place-of-education-for-any-children-whatever-till-their/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) > [Authorship has never been with me a matter of choice. I have not done it for amusement, or for money, or for fame, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/authorship-has-never-been-with-me-a-matter-of-choice-i-have-not-done/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) > [it is the worst humiliation and grievance of the suffering, that they cause suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/it-is-the-worst-humiliation-and-grievance-of-the-suffering-that-they/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) > [Fidelity to conscience is inconsistent with retiring modesty. If it be so, let the modesty succumb. It can be only a false modesty which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/fidelity-to-conscience-is-inconsistent-with-retiring-modesty-if-it-be/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) > [I wrote because I could not help it. There was something that I wanted to say, and I said it: that was all. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/i-wrote-because-i-could-not-help-it-there-was-something-that-i-wanted/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) > [The instruction furnished is not good enough for the youth of such a country ... There is not even any systematic instruction given on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/the-instruction-furnished-is-not-good-enough-for-the-youth-of-such-a/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) > [ \[I\] wish that the land-tax went a little more according to situation than it does. 'Tis really ridiculous, how one has to pay five… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/i-wish-that-the-land-tax-went-a-little-more-according-to-situation/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) > [Who is apt, on occasion, to assign a multitude of reasons when one will do? This is a sure sign of weakness in argument.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/who-is-apt-on-occasion-to-assign-a-multitude-of-reasons-when-one-will/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) > [It is hard to tell which is worse; the wide diffusion of things that are not true, or the suppression of things that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/it-is-hard-to-tell-which-is-worse-the-wide-diffusion-of-things-that/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) > [Religion is a temper, not a pursuit. It is the moral atmosphere in which human beings are to live and move. Men do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/religion-is-a-temper-not-a-pursuit-it-is-the-moral-atmosphere-in/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) > [Moral excellence has no regard to classes and professions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/moral-excellence-has-no-regard-to-classes-and-professions/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) > [I want to be a free rover on the breezy common of the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/i-want-to-be-a-free-rover-on-the-breezy-common-of-the-universe/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) > [For my own part, I had rather suffer any inconvenience from having to work occasionally in chambers and kitchenthan witness the subservience in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/for-my-own-part-i-had-rather-suffer-any-inconvenience-from-having-to/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) [Explore all 98 Harriet Martineau quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) ## More Callous quotes > [Me seeing how thick my callous is on my hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-country/me-seeing-how-thick-my-callous-is-on-my-hand/) [Michael Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-country/) > [Remember chief of staff Rahm Emanuel's callous enjoinder 'you never want a serious crisis to go to waste'? This White House is a serious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-tyrrell/remember-chief-of-staff-rahm-emanuel-s-callous-enjoinder-you-never/) [Bob Tyrrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-tyrrell/) > [And the point is, is it possible for the mind to be totally free from suffering and yet not become indifferent, callous, irresponsible, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/and-the-point-is-is-it-possible-for-the-mind-to-be-totally-free-from/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [There exists in this country, sadly, a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells and stows violence against its own people through vicious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-lapierre/there-exists-in-this-country-sadly-a-callous-corrupt-and-corrupting/) [Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-lapierre/) > [Among sportsmen are the noble, the diligent and the caring, as there are the callous, the cheats and the criminals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harsha-bhogle/among-sportsmen-are-the-noble-the-diligent-and-the-caring-as-there/) [Harsha Bhogle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harsha-bhogle/) > [Evolution is, as well as smarter than we are, infinitely more callous and cruel, and also capricious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/evolution-is-as-well-as-smarter-than-we-are-infinitely-more-callous/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“I have found that happiness is a defiant act of bravery in spite of a callous world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-newman/i-have-found-that-happiness-is-a-defiant-act-of-bravery-in-spite-of-a/) [Liz Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-newman/) > [Is it because you are sunk in the cruelty of superstition, or feel no interest in the honor of your Creator, that you listen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/is-it-because-you-are-sunk-in-the-cruelty-of-superstition-or-feel-no/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [In my blood there is no Jewish blood. In their callous rage, all anti-Semites must hate me now as a Jew. For that reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-yevtushenko/in-my-blood-there-is-no-jewish-blood-in-their-callous-rage-all-anti/) [Yevgeny Yevtushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-yevtushenko/) > [One of the fundamental reasons why so many doctors become cynical and disillusioned is precisely because, when the abstract idealism has worn thin, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/one-of-the-fundamental-reasons-why-so-many-doctors-become-cynical-and/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [I suggest we depict penguins as callous and unfeeling creatures who insist on bringing up their children in what is little more than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-fforde/i-suggest-we-depict-penguins-as-callous-and-unfeeling-creatures-who/) [Jasper Fforde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-fforde/) > [How many students ... were rendered callous to ideas, and how many lost the impetus to learn because of the way in which learning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/how-many-students-were-rendered-callous-to-ideas-and-how-many-lost/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“A tearless heart is a callous heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-george/a-tearless-heart-is-a-callous-heart/) [Jim George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-george/) > [Humans call animals 'dumb'... after they robbed their entire own precious world. They are intelligent beings in their own right, and thoroughly self-sufficient... if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adela-popescu/humans-call-animals-dumb-after-they-robbed-their-entire-own-precious/) [Adela Popescu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adela-popescu/) > [Almost 30 years before Rwanda, before Darfur, more than 2 million people – mothers, children, babies, civilians – lost their lives as a result…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/almost-30-years-before-rwanda-before-darfur-more-than-2-million/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) Browse all 112 Callous quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "[On being deaf:] We can never get beyond the necessity of keeping in full view the worst and the best that can be made of our lot. The worst is, either to sink under the trial, or to be made callous by it. 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