A good intention but fixed and resolute - bent on high and holy ends, we shall find means to them on every side and at every moment; and even obstacles and opposition will but make us "like the fabled specter-ships," which sail the fastest in the very teeth of the wind.
Interpretation
Having strong intentions can help us overcome obstacles and achieve our goals.
This quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson suggests that when our intentions are clear and driven by noble goals, we will discover ways to navigate through challenges. Just as mythical ships are said to thrive in adverse winds, so too can dedicated individuals find strength and solutions in the face of opposition.
In practice
This quote can inspire students facing difficult exams to stay focused on their goals.
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?
My friends and I started that motto early in high school - that attitude, that mentality - from way back then: Want to go to Stanford? Why not? Want to play in the NBA? Why not?
People get good gigs because they stand up....You don't get picked. Reject the tyranny of picked. Pick yourself.
I am made for running. Because when you run, you could be anyone. You hone yourself into a body, nothing more or less than a body. You respond as a body, to the body. If you are racing to win, you have no thoughts but the body's thoughts, no goals but the body's goals. You obliterate yourself in the name of speed. You negate yourself in order to make it past the finish line.
You become what you believe - not what you wish or want but what you truly believe. Wherever you are in life, look at your beliefs. They put you there.
I wake up saying, I'm still alive; a miracle. And so I keep on pushing.
When you encourage others, you, in the process, are encouraged because you're making a commitment and difference in that person's life. Encouragement really does make a difference.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.