The whole sentence is as follows: "Life is a mirror. You laugh, and it laughs. " If you cry, it will cry. If you thank life, life will give you brilliant sunshine. If you don't thank me, you only know how to complain, and you may end up with nothing! "
Meaning: Don't complain. Facing life, life will give you the same feedback.
Extended data
The Life of the Characters Written by William Makepeace Thackeray
go to school
After his father 18 17 died, he was sent back to England to continue studying in private primary schools he hated, and then transferred to public schools in Chaterhouse, where he was often bullied and whipped, making his situation even more miserable.
Six years later, 1829, Thackeray left the public school and entered Trinity College of Cambridge University, where he only stayed for a little over a year. For Thackeray, the days in college are happier than those in Chatterhouse, but in these two places, he has made great achievements in social activities but is mediocre academically.
During his stay in Cambridge, Thackeray wrote for the undergraduate journal Snobbisher, published a farce about Tennyson's award-winning poem Timbuktu, and established lasting friendship with Tennyson, the translators of Rupees, Edward Fitzgerald and William brookfield. He took part in the debate activities of the student union, so extravagant that he left the university without obtaining a degree.
Entering society for the first time
His father left Thackeray a lot of property, so he has the financial ability to travel around and be active in his keen social activities. The year he left Cambridge, he went to Weimar, Germany to study art, stayed there for several months, and met Goethe through the introduction of others.
Marriage and family
1836 In August, Thackeray married an Irish girl named Elizabeth Shawn. They gave birth to three daughters, only two survived. The eldest daughter is Anne, that is, Mrs. Rich, and later became a novelist and essayist.
meteorically rise to fame
A few months after Thackeray's marriage, constitutionalism went bankrupt, and he had to write for other periodicals, including The Times, and act as a hired scholar. In the newly founded Fraser magazine, he published his first famous work, Being a Journalist (1837- 1838).
Speak everywhere
Thackeray loves socializing and yearns for the comfortable life of the upper class. On the one hand, he keeps a good relationship with the characters in the upper class. On the other hand, these characters are often satirized in his works. Thackeray can't communicate with his wife because her mental illness can't be cured. Only by communicating with friends can he relieve his depression.
A few years after his wife went insane, William brookfield, one of his close friends in Cambridge, comforted him and made him have a very sad time.
All-powerful literary world
At this point, he has begun to keep pace with Dickens. Their relationship is not close, but they have always been friendly. But they had a quarrel once, and the only quarrel was not resolved until Thackeray died.
Like Dickens, he deeply sympathized with the people's sufferings. The "good woman" with fragile feelings in his works sometimes sneered at the society and even produced cynicism, which was a bit unacceptable at that time, but it was easily loved by modern people.
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