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?
If you think about disaster, you will get it. Brood about death and you hasten your demise. Think positively and masterfully, with confidence and faith, and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in achievement and experience.
Republics, one after another . . . have perished from a want of intelligence and virtue in the masses of the people. . . .
So my message is in whichever realm, be it going into space or going into the deep sea, you have to balance the yin and yang of caution and boldness, risk aversion and risk taking, fear and fearlessness. No great accomplishment takes place, whether it be a movie or a deep ocean expedition, or a space mission, without a kind of dynamic equipoise between the two. Luck is not a factor. Hope is not a strategy. Fear is not an option.
Commit yourself to deeper awareness. Be generous of spirit. Embrace every day as a new world. Let the timeless be in charge of time.
Never ask people about your work.
When fate hands us a lemon, let's try to make lemonade.
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