In every society some men are born to rule, and some to advise.
Interpretation
Some people are destined to lead while others are meant to guide and counsel.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote reflects the idea that within any society, there are individuals who naturally assume leadership roles and others who take on supportive, advisory positions. This distinction highlights the different yet equally important roles people play in governance and society, suggesting that both leadership and advisement are essential for balance and effectiveness.
In practice
In a speech about community organization, you might say, 'As Ralph Waldo Emerson once stated, in every society some men are born to rule, and some to advise, underlining the importance of both leadership and guidance.'
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 only met Margaret Thatcher twice. The thing that I thought about meeting her was how extraordinarily intelligent she was. You really had to be on your game otherwise she'd make mincemeat of you.
Some legislators only wish to vengeance against a particular enemy. Others only look out for themselves. They devote very little time on the consideration of any public issue. They think that no harm will come from their neglect. They act as if it is always the business of somebody else to look after this or that. When this selfish notion is entertained by all, the commonwealth slowly begins to decay.
If more women are in leadership roles, we'll stop assuming they shouldn't be.
I don’t like to badmouth people. But I’m the head of a monarchy that began in the ninth century, and I’m apparently more modern than Chris Christie. Look, I know he has to appeal to the crazy right-wingers in his party, but the fact is, he’s not as forward-thinking as an eighty-seven-year-old lady who wears a crown on her head. It’s pathetic.
Great nations need organizing principles, and 'Don't do stupid stuff' is not an organizing principle.
The true leader must submerge himself in the fountain of the people.
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