The surest way to get a thing in this life is to be prepared for doing without it, to the exclusion even of hope.
Interpretation
Being prepared to live without something can lead to acquiring it more effectively.
This quote suggests that detaching from the desire for a particular outcome or possession can ultimately lead to achieving it. By freeing oneself from the emotional burden of hope and expectation, one can focus fully on the necessary actions and preparations that might bring about that desired result, fostering resilience and personal growth.
In practice
In a motivational speech about achieving personal goals.
Does not a man physically tremble under the mere look of a wild beast or fellow-man that is stronger than himself? Does not a woman redden all over when she feels her lover's eyes on her? How then should one doubt the mysterious power of one individual over another?
How many precious things do we not already possess which others have not - have hardly an idea of! Let us enjoy these, then, and bless God that we are permitted to enjoy them, rather than importune His goodness with vain longings for more.
I declare I would rather be a kitten and cry, 'Mew!' than live as I see many of my female acquaintances do, tearing each other's characters to pieces, and wearing out their lives in vanity and vexation of spirit.
One feels as if it could never, never be less. And yet all griefs, when there is no bitterness in them, are soothed down by time.
But what are friends? What is a husband, even, compared with one's Mother? Of her love, one is always so sure! It is the only love that nothing - not even misconduct on our part - can take away from us.
Never does one feel oneself so utterly helpless as in trying to speak comfort for great bereavement.
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the same well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears. And how else can it be? The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven? And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
No thought, no reflection, no analysis, no cultivation, no intention; let it settle itself.
Feminism is not just about women; it's about letting all people lead fuller lives.
I found the emotion that as an athlete you block out, and it really helped me to understand myself as a person. I'm a really emotional person and it helped make me a better person.
Listen to many, speak to a few.
When we think too much about the opinions of others, we are letting them edit a book God has written.
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