We are reformers in the spring and summer, but in autumn we stand by the old. Reformers in the morning, and conservers at night.
Interpretation
We often embrace new ideas and change during the bright and energetic times of our lives, but revert to tradition and stability as circumstances shift.
In this quote, Ralph Waldo Emerson reflects on the dual nature of human behavior regarding change and tradition. He suggests that individuals often embody the spirit of reform and progress during the 'spring and summer' phases of life, symbolizing youth and enthusiasm, while they tend to cling to established norms and conservatism during the 'autumn' and 'night,' representing maturity and the desire for stability. This duality highlights the balance between innovation and tradition in human experiences.
In practice
During a motivational speech about embracing new ideas while respecting past achievements.
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?
If you want your life to be more rewarding, you have to change the way you think.
At any given time, there are a lot of million-dollar luxury charter boats cruising around the Mentawai Islands finding the most incredible waves. And yet the people on shore are suffering. The whole scene is wrong. As a surf community, we have to do something.
It's a lot easier, she realized, to be on the verge of something than to actually be it. This would still take time.
If we are going to realise our ambition of ending the harmful practices of FGM and forced marriage, the role of young people in pushing for change is crucial. We also need to ensure that everyone, from government to civil society, is playing their part.
A man who is used to acting in one way never changes; he must come to ruin when the times, in changing, no longer are in harmony with his ways.
No matter what mistakes we might have made yesterday, today is the day we can retrieve our innocence.
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