Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
An aspiration is a joy forever, a possession as solid as a landed estate.
Interpretation
Aspiration brings lasting joy and value that feels as tangible as material wealth.
In this quote, Robert Louis Stevenson expresses the idea that having aspirations and dreams is a source of enduring joy. Unlike material possessions that may fade, aspirations provide a fundamental richness to our lives, comparable to owning real estate. This highlights the importance of nurturing our ambitions, as they can offer fulfillment and stability throughout our journey.
In practice
In a motivational speech, to inspire the audience to chase their dreams.
Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.
Like a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memories survive in time of sorrow.
That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much.
His past was fairly blameless; few men could read the rolls of their life with less apprehension; yet he was humbled to the dust by the many ill things he had done, and raised up again into sober and fearful gratitude by the many he had come so near to doing, yet avoided.
The habit of being happy enables one to be freed, or largely freed, from the domination of outward conditions.
It is the history of our kindnesses that alone make this world tolerable. If it were not for that, for the effect of kind words, kind looks, kind letters . . . I should be inclined to think our life a practical jest in the worst possible spirit.
It's easier to go down a hill than up it but the view is much better at the top.
There are three difficulties in authorship: to write anything worth publishing, to find honest men to publish it, and to find sensible men to read it.
Gratitude creates the most wonderful feeling. It can resolve disputes. It can strengthen friendships. And it makes us better men and women.
Whatever authority I may have rests solely on knowing how little I know.
Self is not liberated. It was never bound. What gets liberated are the demons as well as gods of your mind. Set them free. You are sick of playing with the game. Be willing to not play the game. This takes huge resolve.
Grant what thou commandest and then command what thou wilt.
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