Variety is the Spice of Life Meaning
Definition: Differences make life more interesting.
Origin of Variety is the Spice of Life Meaning
The idea behind this expression is that life would be boring if everything were the same all the time.
This idiom originally came from a poem entitled The Task, which was written in the year 1875 by a man named William Cowper. The full line is variety is the spice of life, which gives it all its flavor.
The poem compares unseasoned food, which is very bland, with an unexciting life, in which nothing new ever happens.
This seems to be an apt metaphor because too much spice makes food intolerable, just as too much variety makes life stressful and unpredictable.
Examples of Variety is the Spice of Life Meaning
Two friends are discussing the new boss that one of them has at work.
Dan: Is the new boss at your work still causing problems?
Kira: Yes. No one ever knows what trouble he’ll start next. We used to have predictable days. Now I have no idea what each new day will bring.
Dan: Well, they say that variety is the spice of life.
Kira: That’s true. But this is more than just variety. This is chaos! Variety would mean having a few parties sprinkled in amongst the meetings. It doesn’t mean having no routine whatsoever!
The following example involves two women who are making plans to eat lunch together.
Gertrude: Let’s go to Olive Garden for lunch.
Ruby: Again? I love Olive Garden, but we go there every week.
Gertrude: Why not? It’s delicious!
Ruby: Variety is the spice of life. Let’s shake things up a little by trying something new.
More Examples
This excerpt is from an advice columnist who comments on how diverse the requests for help are from his readers.
- Time for another edition of Brain Sprain, wherein I do my best to respond to questions sent to me by readers who, safe to say, have a bracingly expansive understanding of how advice columns work. As you will see, if variety is the spice of life, my askjohnshore@gmail.com inbox could launch a sneezing fit in the Great Sphinx. –Asheville Citizen Times
This excerpt is from an article about baseball.
- And since variety is the spice of life, the best way to follow the Game 5 sensory overload would be a tight, taut, pitchers’ duel. –New York Post
Summary
The phrase variety is the spice of life is another way to say diversity brings excitement to life.
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