Do not say things. What you are stands over you the while, and thunders, so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary.
Interpretation
Actions speak louder than words; one's true character is revealed through behavior rather than declarations.
Ralph Waldo Emerson emphasizes the importance of authenticity and integrity in our actions. He suggests that no matter what one claims to believe or profess, it is the reality of their character and actions that truly resonate and are perceived by others, overshadowing mere words and intentions.
In practice
In a leadership meeting, emphasize the importance of leading by example.
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?
Hit a tripwire of smell and memories explode all at once. A complex vision leaps out of the undergrowth.
If your everyday practice is open to all your emotions, to all the people you meet, to all the situations you encounter, without closing down, trusting that you can do that - then that will take you are far as you can go. And then you'll understand all the teachings that anyone has ever taught.
As a writer, the best mindset is to be unafraid.
There's an awful lot of inactive kindness which is nothing but laziness, not wanting any trouble, confusion, or effort.
Greatness is not found in possessions, power, position, or prestige. It is discovered in goodness, humility, service, and character.
When every autumn people said it could not last through the winter, and when every spring there was still no end in sight, only the hope that out of it all some good would accrue to mankind kept men and nations fighting. When at last it was over, the war had many diverse results and one dominant one transcending all others: disillusion.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.