Her experience had been of a kind to teach her, rightly or wrongly, that the doubtful honor of a brief transit through a sorry world hardly called for effusiveness, even when the path was suddenly irradiated at some half-way point by daybeams rich as hers. But her strong sense that neither she nor any human being deserved less than was given, did not blind her to the fact that there were others receiving less who had deserved much more. And in being forced to class herself among the fortunate she did not cease to wonder at the persistence of the unforeseen, when the one to whom such unbroken tranquility had been accorded in the adult stage was she whose youth had seemed to teach that happiness was but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain. Thomas Hardy
About This Quote

In this quote, O’Connor speaks from experience to say that she understands that happiness is a fleeting thing and it should be given to those who deserve it most. She believes that the world is a cruel place and her own life has been filled with pain. So, she recognizes that those who have had much more should be grateful for the small amount they have been afforded.

Source: The Mayor Of Casterbridge

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