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At times the whole world seems to be in conspiracy to importune you with emphatic trifles.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote suggests that the world often imposes trivial distractions upon us, which can obstruct our focus and clarity.

Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote reflects the idea that in our lives, we often encounter numerous trivialities and distractions that can feel overwhelming and burdensome. It implies that these 'emphatic trifles' can conspire against our ability to engage with more significant, meaningful aspects of life, thereby urging us to maintain perspective and resist the allure of the insignificant.

Themes

DistractionTrivialityFocusImportanceClarity

In practice

Example use cases

During a motivational speech, to emphasize the need to prioritize what truly matters.

More from Ralph Waldo Emerson

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.
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Few people have any next, they live from hand to mouth without a plan, and are always at the end of their line.
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Men cease to interest us when we find their limitations
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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.
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The world belongs to the energetic.
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Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?
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Quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson | QuoteProject