--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Pity only on fresh objects stays, but…" description: "\"Pity only on fresh objects stays, but with the tedious sight of woes decays.\" — John Dryden" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/969/john-dryden-491_decay_pity-only-on-fresh-objects-stays-but-wit_3166239.jpg" --- # Pity only on fresh objects stays, but with the tedious… ![“Pity only on fresh objects stays, but with the tedious sight of woes decays.” quote by John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/969/john-dryden-491_decay_pity-only-on-fresh-objects-stays-but-wit_3166239.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/969/john-dryden-491_decay_pity-only-on-fresh-objects-stays-but-wit_3166239.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/969/john-dryden-491_decay_pity-only-on-fresh-objects-stays-but-wit_3166239.jpg) > “Pity only on fresh objects stays, but with the tedious sight of woes decays.” [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Freshness of sympathy fades as suffering becomes familiar, reducing compassion over time. **In simple terms:** Compassion wanes with repeated exposure to pain. Key Takeaway Renew empathy before it dulls. Themes empathy compassion human nature Mood reflective somber Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - caregiving - long-term conflict - personal loss - social work Key Concepts psychology emotional fatigue Questions to Reflect On - How do you maintain empathy in chronic hardship? - What practices restore fresh compassion? A Different Perspective Compassion can be reignited through conscious effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Pity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pity/) [Woe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woe/) ## Related quotes > [The soft complaining flute, In dying notes, discovers The woes of hopeless lovers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/the-soft-complaining-flute-in-dying-notes-discovers-the-woes-of/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [I learn to pity woes so like my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/i-learn-to-pity-woes-so-like-my-own/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Death ends our woes, and the kind grave shuts up the mournful scene.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/death-ends-our-woes-and-the-kind-grave-shuts-up-the-mournful-scene/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [A woman's counsel brought us first to woe, And made her man his paradise forego, Where at heart's ease he liv'd; and might have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/a-woman-s-counsel-brought-us-first-to-woe-and-made-her-man-his/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [All things are subject to decay and when fate summons, monarchs must obey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/all-things-are-subject-to-decay-and-when-fate-summons-monarchs-must/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Patience is a most necessary qualification for business; many a man would rather you heard his story than granted his request. One must seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/patience-is-a-most-necessary-qualification-for-business-many-a-man/) [Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/) > [Life is a biography, not a series of disconnected moments, more or less pleasurable but increasingly tedious and unsatisfying unless one imposes a purposive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dalrymple/life-is-a-biography-not-a-series-of-disconnected-moments-more-or-less/) [Theodore Dalrymple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dalrymple/) > [When you need something tedious done, and don't have time for it, give it to a workaholic. This way, both of you will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-j-zelinski/when-you-need-something-tedious-done-and-don-t-have-time-for-it-give/) [Ernie J Zelinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-j-zelinski/) > [All tedious research is worth one inspired moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uta-hagen/all-tedious-research-is-worth-one-inspired-moment/) [Uta Hagen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uta-hagen/) > [The road by precepts is tedious, by example, short and efficacious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/the-road-by-precepts-is-tedious-by-example-short-and-efficacious/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [At Epcot Center the Disney corporation has focused its attention on two things greatly in need of Disneyfication: the tedious future and the annoying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/at-epcot-center-the-disney-corporation-has-focused-its-attention-on/) [P. J. 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He put his dog in a certain position and made him eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-brooks/steven-spielberg-seems-to-have-wanted-to-be-a-director-from-13-he-put/) [Albert Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-brooks/) > [Maybe there's some kind of modeling that can be tedious, like catalogue modeling, but there's a kind of modeling, with runways or working with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabella-rossellini/maybe-there-s-some-kind-of-modeling-that-can-be-tedious-like/) [Isabella Rossellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabella-rossellini/) > [Men trust rather to their eyes than to their ears; the effect of precepts is therefore slow and tedious, whilst that of examples is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/men-trust-rather-to-their-eyes-than-to-their-ears-the-effect-of/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) ## More by John Dryden > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Trust on and think To-morrow will repay; To-morrow's falser than the former day; Lies worse; and while it says, we shall be blest With…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/trust-on-and-think-to-morrow-will-repay-to-morrow-s-falser-than-the/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [To take up half on trust, and half to try, Name it not faith but bungling bigotry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/to-take-up-half-on-trust-and-half-to-try-name-it-not-faith-but/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Among our crimes oblivion may be set.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/among-our-crimes-oblivion-may-be-set/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [And after hearing what our Church can say, If still our reason runs another way, That private reason 'tis more just to curb, Than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/and-after-hearing-what-our-church-can-say-if-still-our-reason-runs/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Happy, happy, happy pair! None but the brave deserves the fair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/happy-happy-happy-pair-none-but-the-brave-deserves-the-fair/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [A coward is the kindest animal; 'Tis the most forgiving creature in a fight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/a-coward-is-the-kindest-animal-tis-the-most-forgiving-creature-in-a/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [God never made his work for man to mend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/god-never-made-his-work-for-man-to-mend/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Reason to rule, mercy to forgive: The first is law, the last prerogative. 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Alone she came, no sleep their eyes to close. Alone and black she came; no friendly stars arose.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/night-came-but-unattended-with-repose-alone-she-came-no-sleep-their/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) [Explore all 520 John Dryden quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) ## More Decay quotes > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [One reason why my memory decays is that I have three cats, all so loving and insistent that they play cat's-cradle with every train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/one-reason-why-my-memory-decays-is-that-i-have-three-cats-all-so/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [I've always thought that the most extraordinary special effect you could do is to buy a child at the moment of its birth, sit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/i-ve-always-thought-that-the-most-extraordinary-special-effect-you/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [We think literature is immortal, but even that decays and ultimately turns to dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-farren/we-think-literature-is-immortal-but-even-that-decays-and-ultimately/) [Mick Farren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-farren/) > [Wise people are able to give themselves gracefully to seemingly contradictory experiences, because they know that they belong to different seasons of life, all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/wise-people-are-able-to-give-themselves-gracefully-to-seemingly/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [The ensouled is distinguished from the unsouled by its being alive. Now since being alive is spoken of in many ways, even if only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-ensouled-is-distinguished-from-the-unsouled-by-its-being-alive/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [It seems that the whole world is beginning to decay, and that its putrefaction has chosen to spread outward from here, from the land…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmina-khadra/it-seems-that-the-whole-world-is-beginning-to-decay-and-that-its/) [Yasmina Khadra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmina-khadra/) > [No government can be strong and flourishing while the national character is weak and degraded. A government must flourish and decay with its subjects;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-robbins-curtis/no-government-can-be-strong-and-flourishing-while-the-national/) [Benjamin Robbins Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-robbins-curtis/) > [But the grind has begun. 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Columbus never reached China.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/without-adventure-all-civilization-is-full-of-decay-adventure-rarely/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [“Out of all its squalor and human decay, its eruptions of butchery, India produced so many people of grace and beauty, ruled by elaborate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/out-of-all-its-squalor-and-human-decay-its-eruptions-of-butchery/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 744 Decay quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Pity only on fresh objects stays, but with the tedious sight of woes decays.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Dryden" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/pity-only-on-fresh-objects-stays-but-with-the-tedious-sight-of-woes/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Decay" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/pity-only-on-fresh-objects-stays-but-with-the-tedious-sight-of-woes/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/969/john-dryden-491_decay_pity-only-on-fresh-objects-stays-but-wit_3166239.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/969/john-dryden-491_decay_pity-only-on-fresh-objects-stays-but-wit_3166239.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/969/john-dryden-491_decay_pity-only-on-fresh-objects-stays-but-wit_3166239.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Pity only on fresh objects stays, but with the tedious sight of woes decays.” — John Dryden", "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": "John Dryden", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Pity only on fresh objects stays,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/pity-only-on-fresh-objects-stays-but-with-the-tedious-sight-of-woes/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/pity-only-on-fresh-objects-stays-but-with-the-tedious-sight-of-woes/#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 } } ] } ```