Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think.
Interpretation
Character and moral strength are more important than merely having intelligence.
In this quote, Ralph Waldo Emerson emphasizes that true greatness lies in one's character, which shapes how we live and act, rather than just our intellectual capabilities. A person of strong character possesses the ability to think deeply and live a life of integrity, demonstrating that moral values are foundational to a fulfilling existence.
In practice
In a motivational speech about leadership, one might cite this quote to highlight the importance of integrity.
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.
Few people have any next, they live from hand to mouth without a plan, and are always at the end of their line.
Men cease to interest us when we find their limitations
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.
The world belongs to the energetic.
Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?
I think everybody should study ants. They have an amazing four-part philosophy. Never give up, look ahead, stay positive and do all you can.
Sometimes the simplest and best use of our will is to drop it all and just walk out from under everything that is covering us, even if only for an hour or soβjust walk out from under the webs we've spun, the tasks we've assumed, the problems we have to solve. They'll be there when we get back, and maybe some of them will fall apart without our worry to hold them up.
You will not be carried to Heaven lying at ease upon a feather bed.
A person is always startled when he hears himself seriously called an old man for the first time.
Generosity is an activity that loosens us up. By offering whatever we can - a dollar, a flower, a word of encouragement - we are training in letting go.
Because men have a history, it is difficult for them to imagine what it is like to grow up without one, or the sense of personal expansion that comes from discovering that we women have a worthy heritage. Along with pride often comes rage β rage that one has been deprived of such a significant knowledge.
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