We ask for long life, but 'tis deep life, or noble moments that signify. Let the measure of time be spiritual, not mechanical.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the importance of experiencing meaningful moments rather than simply counting years.
Ralph Waldo Emerson suggests that the true essence of life lies not in its duration but in the depth and quality of the experiences we have. He emphasizes that spiritual richness and significant moments define our existence more than the mere passage of time, advocating for a life that prioritizes meaningful experiences over a long, unremarkable life.
In practice
In a graduation speech to emphasize the importance of meaningful experiences over mere age.
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?
The cat joined the Re-education Committee and was very active in it for some days. She was seen one dag sitting on a roof and talking to some sparrows who were just out of her reach. She was telling them that all animals were now comrades and that any sparrow who chose could come and perch on her paw; but the sparrows kept their distance.
When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.
The Black skin is not a badge of shame, but rather a glorious symbol of national greatness.
I ask no risen dust to teach me immortality; I am conscious of eternal life.
Men live their lives trapped in an eternal present, between the mists of memory and the sea of shadow that is all we know of the days to come.
Racism is endemic to the human condition, just as stupidity is. We will always have to be on guard against it. But now it is recognized as a scourge, as the crowning immorality of our age and our history.
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