You cannot lift another soul until you are standing on higher ground than he is. You cannot light a fire in another soul unless it is burning in your own soul.
Interpretation
One must first cultivate their own strengths and passions to effectively inspire and support others.
This quote speaks to the importance of personal development and self-awareness as prerequisites for helping others. It emphasizes that to truly uplift and inspire those around us, we must first ensure that we are in a position of strength and enlightenment ourselves; otherwise, our efforts may be ineffective or fall flat.
In practice
In a motivational speech to young leaders about the importance of personal development.
The one who confidently looks forward to an eternal reward for his efforts in mortality is constantly sustained through his deepest trials. When he is disappointed in love, he does not commit suicide. When loved ones die, he doesn’t despair; when he loses a coveted contest, he doesn’t falter; when war and destruction dissipate his future, he doesn’t sink into a depression. He lives above his world and never loses sight of the goal of his salvation.
You are equipped with strong bodies and educated minds. Add to these an unshakable faith in a divine providence and you have the tools by which you may build a successful life. Make each day your masterpiece and live so nobly that you may witness honestly each day: Whatever came to your hands this day, you did it to the best of your ability
I drink from a small spring, / my thirst excedes the ocean.
A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought.
Whatever happens to you belongs to you. Make it yours. Feed it to yourself even if it feels impossible to swallow. Let it nurture you, because it will.
Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.
Dream, rather than let yourself be dreamt
One must be ruthless with one's own writing or someone else will be.
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