None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
Cast your whole vote, not a strip of paper merely, but your whole influence.
Interpretation
Engage fully in the political process, using all your influence and passion.
Henry David Thoreau emphasizes the importance of active participation in societal matters, urging individuals to not just cast a vote but to invest their entire influence and efforts into driving change. This quote serves as a reminder that true commitment to democracy involves deeper engagement beyond mere voting, advocating for a holistic approach to civic responsibility.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of civic engagement, I quoted Thoreau to inspire the audience to take action in their communities.
None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and selling and spending their lives like servants.
An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
Have no mean hours, but be grateful for every hour, and accept what it brings. The reality will make any sincere record respectable.
As every season seems best to us in its turn, so the coming in of spring is like the creation of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age.
That grand old poem called Winter
Nothing has been more detrimental to me than to be considered a symbol, because I never stood for any of that... The civil rights movement thought they would do me harm over the years by disassociating themselves from me. Well, nothing in the world was more to my advantage. I was never one of them... I had my own divine mission.
I think that racism is ugly and so unfair, and I believe that we all need one another.
Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation.
We owe this freedom of choice and action to those men and women in uniform who have served this nation and its interests in time of need. In particular, we are forever indebted to those who have given their lives that we might be free.
When this ugly gangster told Joe Glaser that he must take the name of Armstrong down, off of the marquee, and it was an 'order from Al Capone,' Mr. Glaser looked this cat straight in the face and told him these words: 'I think that Louis Armstrong is the world's greatest, and this is my place, and I defy anybody to take his name down from there.'
May the pain you have known and the conflict you have experienced give you the strength to walk through life facing each new situation with courage and optimism.
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