I hate this shallow Americanism which hopes to get rich by credit, to get knowledge by raps on midnight tables, to learn the economy of the mind by phrenology, or skill without study, or mastery without apprenticeship.
Interpretation
Emerson criticizes superficial methods of achieving success without deep understanding or hard work.
In this quote, Ralph Waldo Emerson expresses disdain for the American tendency to seek wealth and knowledge through shortcuts, rather than through diligent effort and deep learning. He highlights the futility of trying to attain mastery in various fields without proper study, training, or apprenticeship, emphasizing the importance of dedication and thorough understanding in the pursuit of true knowledge and success.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of education, someone might use this quote to highlight the value of hard work.
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 two men on the same job agree all the time, then one is useless. If they disagree all the time, both are useless.
Strive always to excel in virtue and truth.
"Great suffering has a silver-lining that we can be grateful for, because it builds up a human being and puts him or her within reach of self-knowledge."
Prayer cannot bring water to parched fields, or mend a broken bridge, or rebuild a ruined city; but prayer can water an arid soul, mend a broken heart, and rebuild a weakened will.
If I have gained anything over these months, it is the knowledge there is no starting over- only living with the mistakes you've made.
If you want to learn the craft of war, ponder over this book. The teacher is as a needle, the disciple is as thread. You must practice constantly.
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