Life is as tedious as twice-told tale, vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man.

When a person is weary or grieving, the world can seem to repeat itself endlessly, every day a story already heard and not worth hearing again. Yet the dullness often lives in the tired listener as much as in the tale. Flatness of that kind tends to say more about the state of the one experiencing it than about life itself.

If everything feels stale to you right now, that may be exhaustion or sorrow speaking, and both deserve care rather than argument. Sleep, company and time tend to change how the same story sounds. If the heaviness lasts, it is worth telling someone.