This quote explores the profound and somewhat tragic nature of certain individuals whose emotional or psychological constitution inclines them toward suffering rather than comfort. Emerson's metaphor of "mithridatic stomachs fed on poisoned bread" evokes the image of people who have become so accustomed to pain and grief that it has become an essential, almost toxic, part of their existence. The concept suggests a paradox where pleasure and prosperity, typically seen as remedies for misery, are insufficient to comfort these souls. Instead, they seek out hardship, as if inheriting or cultivating a fatalistic outlook that perpetuates their own unhappiness.

Reflecting on this, it brings to mind the complexity of human emotions and the ways in which some individuals might embrace pain as a form of identity or as an indication of authenticity. It's as if certain people face internal voids or existential struggles where normal joys feel alien or shallow. This might be due to past trauma, a philosophical stance on suffering, or just deep psychological conditioning. The phrase highlights the diverse ways people cope with life’s difficulties—while some yearn for happiness and peace, others may paradoxically desire the very things that unsettle and torment them.

In a broader sense, Emerson challenges us to think about the human condition and the self-destructive patterns that can emerge out of unresolved grief or a fundamentally tragic perspective on life. Perhaps there lies a call for greater empathy for those who seem unreachable through conventional forms of comfort or success. Understanding their "doomed natures" invites us to consider how resilience and healing differ for everyone, and that prosperity alone does not guarantee relief from inner desolation.