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Be as the sailor who keeps the polestar in his eye. By so doing we may not arrive at our port within a calculable period, but we will maintain a true course.
Henry David Thoreau
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote emphasizes the importance of having a guiding principle or goal, even if the destination isn't immediately clear.

Henry David Thoreau uses the metaphor of a sailor keeping the polestar in sight to illustrate the significance of maintaining focus on one's values or aspirations, regardless of the time it takes to achieve them. The journey may be unpredictable, but by adhering to this guiding star, one can navigate the challenges of life and stay on course toward their ultimate destination.

Themes

SailorPolestarGuiding PrincipleLife'S JourneyFocus

In practice

Example use cases

During a motivational speech about staying focused on long-term goals.

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