Every burned book or house enlightens the world; every suppressed or expunged word reverberates through the earth from side to side.
Interpretation
Censorship and destruction of knowledge ultimately lead to greater understanding and awareness.
In this quote, Emerson highlights the paradox of censorship and destruction—the act of burning books or suppressing words may temporarily silence ideas, but it also sparks curiosity and awareness in society. It suggests that the quest for knowledge and truth is resilient and that the consequences of such actions can have far-reaching effects, prompting individuals to seek out forbidden knowledge and challenge the status quo.
In practice
This quote could be used in a speech about the importance of free speech and expression.
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?
God will never reveal more truth about himself until you have obeyed what you know already
I've concluded that the metric by which God will assess my life isn't dollars, but the individual people whose lives I've touched. I think that's the way it will work for us all. Don't worry about the level of individual prominence you have achieved; worry about the individuals you have helped become better people.
Of all that is good, sublimity is supreme. Succeeding is the coming together of all that is beautiful. Furtherance is the agreement of all that is just. Perseverance is the foundation of all actions.
There's no difference between a pessimist who says, "Oh it's hopeless, so don't bother doing anything." and an optimist who says, "Don't bother doing anything, it's going to turn out fine anyways. Either way, nothing happens."
A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.
Of the billionaires I have known, money just brings out the basic traits in them. If they were jerks before they had money, they are simply jerks with a billion dollars.
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