A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged, it is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and the time in which it is used.

More from Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

• A moment’s insight is sometimes worth a life’s experience.
• I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, -but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.
• I found this great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.
• Old age is fifteen years older than I am.
• Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.
• Youth fades, love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; a mother’s secret hope outlives them all.