Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.
Alexander PopeRead
In lazy apathy let stoics boast, their virtue fix'd: 't is fix'd as in a frost; contracted all, retiring to the breast; but strength of mind is exercise, not rest.
Interpretation
True strength of character comes from active effort and engagement, rather than passive complacency.
In this quote, Alexander Pope criticizes the stoic belief that virtue is a static state of being, suggesting instead that true strength of mind and character is cultivated through active engagement and effort. He contrasts the idea of virtue being fixed and unchanging, like frost, with the belief that personal strength emerges from exercising the mind and spirit rather than retreating into apathy.
In practice
During a motivational speech about personal growth, this quote can inspire the audience to take action.
Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.
What dire offence from am'rous causes springs, What mighty contests rise from trivial things.
Fair tresses man's imperial race ensnare; And beauty draws us with a single hair.
An honest man's the noblest work of God.
One thought of thee puts all the pomp to flight;_x000D_ _x000D_ Priests, tapers, temples, swim before my sight.
Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?
One of the things I learned, the easiest of lessons, was that the better you do your job, often going against conventional mores, the less popular you are likely to be.
The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast, and you miss all you are traveling for.
I feel like we have to keep our eyes on the road. Being nostalgic is like taking an offramp and getting a sandwich - and then you get back on the highway. I don't want to be spending the rest of my life at the gas station.
A boy told me if he roller-skated fast enough his loneliness couldn't catch up to him, the best reason I ever heard for trying to be a champion. What I wonder tonight pedaling hard down King William Street is if it translates to bicycles. A victory! To leave your loneliness panting behind you on some street corner while you float free into a cloud of sudden azaleas, pink petals that have never felt loneliness, no matter how slowly they fell.
Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous impatience. Once implemented they can be easily overturned or subverted through apathy or lack of follow-up, so a continuous effort is required.
A belief may be comforting. Only through your own experience, however, does it become liberating.
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