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We cannot let our angels go; we do not see that they only go out that archangels may come in.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects on the presence of both good and bad experiences in life, suggesting that the loss of one often makes room for the other.

Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote emphasizes the idea that we might resist letting go of certain elements in our lives, represented by 'angels.' However, he points out that the departure of these familiar comforts or joys allows for growth and the arrival of greater, transformative experiences, symbolized by 'archangels.' It speaks to the natural ebb and flow of life, where endings can lead to new beginnings.

Themes

AngelsLossNew BeginningsChangeGrowth

In practice

Example use cases

In a motivational speech, to encourage an audience to embrace change.

More from Ralph Waldo Emerson

It is plain that there is no separate essence called courage, no cup or cell in the brain, no vessel in the heart containing drops or atoms that make or give this virtue; but it is the right or healthy state of every man, when he is free to do that which is constitutional to him to do.
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Few people have any next, they live from hand to mouth without a plan, and are always at the end of their line.
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Men cease to interest us when we find their limitations
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Tis the good reader that makes the good book; a good head cannot read amiss: in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakeably meant for his ear.
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The world belongs to the energetic.
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Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?
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