None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
A man can suffocate on courtesy.
Interpretation
Excessive politeness can be stifling and insincere.
This quote by Henry David Thoreau suggests that extreme displays of courtesy can become overwhelming and may lack genuine emotion. It implies that while politeness is important, an overabundance can hinder true communication and understanding, leading to a sense of suffocation in relationships or social interactions.
In practice
During a meeting, addressing the need for honest feedback despite the courteous atmosphere.
None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and selling and spending their lives like servants.
An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
Have no mean hours, but be grateful for every hour, and accept what it brings. The reality will make any sincere record respectable.
As every season seems best to us in its turn, so the coming in of spring is like the creation of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age.
That grand old poem called Winter
All good things which exist are the fruits of originality.
That is the challenge Companion. To take what has happened to you and learn from it. Nothing is quite so destructive as pity, especially self-pity. No event in life is so terrible that one cannot rise above it.
I shall ask no more than that you agree with Dean Inge that even though counting heads is not an ideal way to govern, at least it is better than breaking them.
Gratitude is a vaccine, an antitoxin, and an antiseptic.
He that blows the coals in quarrels that he has nothing to do with, has no right to complain if the sparks fly in his face. - Ben Franklin
Begin thus from the first act, and proceed; and, in conclusion, at the ill which thou hast done, be troubled, and rejoice for the good.
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