To have played and laughed with enthusiasm, and sung with exultation - this to to have succeeded.
Interpretation
Success is defined by the joy and enthusiasm experienced in activities, rather than by traditional accomplishments.
This quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson suggests that true success lies in the joy and enthusiasm one experiences while engaging in life's activities. Rather than measuring success by conventional standards such as wealth or status, Emerson emphasizes the importance of finding joy in playing, laughing, and singing, highlighting that these moments of passion and happiness are what truly define a successful life.
In practice
During a graduation speech, this quote could inspire students to pursue their passions over conventional measures of success.
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?
To see a thing clearly in the mind makes it begin to take form.
If a man loves the labour of his trade, apart from any question of success or fame, the gods have called him.
There's a lot of blood, sweat, and guts between dreams and success.
Spectacular achievements come from unspectacular preparation.
Measure your net worth not by how much you have, but by many people you impact.
To be a footballer was just a dream, and I don't believe in dreams. I only deal in what is real. To be honest, I've never thought about what I could get out of football or where it would take me. I just wanted to play. I'm the same now.
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