Some natures are too good to be spoiled by praise.
Interpretation
Some people possess inner qualities that are so valuable that excessive praise can diminish their true nature.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote suggests that there are individuals whose intrinsic qualities are so exceptional that they do not require external validation through praise; in fact, such praise may even distort their true essence. The idea emphasizes the importance of humility and the notion that genuine qualities should stand independently without needing to be bolstered by others' commendations.
In practice
During a speech about personal growth, one might say this quote to emphasize the importance of humility.
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?
Generally in war the best policy is to take a state intact; to ruin it is inferior to this.
Satan can make men dance upon the brink of hell as though they were on the verge of heaven.
Spirituality for me is recognizing that I am connected to the energy of all creation, that I am a part of it and it is always a part of me.
Has the dark shadow really disappeared? Or is it inside me, concealed, waiting for its chance to reappear? Like a clever thief hidden inside a house, breathing quietly, waiting until everyone’s asleep. I have looked deep inside myself, trying to detect something that might be there. But just as our consciousness is a maze, so too is our body. Everywhere you turn there’s darkness, and a blind spot. Everywhere you find silent hints, everywhere a surprise is waiting for you.
Within my body are all the sacred places of the world, and the most profound pilgrimage I can ever make is within my own body.
...It all seemed to him to have disappeared as if behind a curtain at a theater. There are such curtains that drop in life. God is moving on to the next act.
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