The world is not so much in need of new thoughts as that when thought grows old and worn with usage it should, like current coin, be called in, and, from the mint of genius, reissued fresh and new.
Interpretation
Creative ideas can become stale and need to be refreshed to remain valuable.
This quote suggests that society does not necessarily require entirely new ideas but rather a rejuvenation of existing thoughts that have become old and overused. Just as currency must be replaced to retain its worth, so too must our thoughts and perspectives be revitalized and reimagined to maintain their relevance and impact.
In practice
During a conference on creativity, this quote could be used to highlight the importance of revisiting and refreshing established ideas.
Looking forward into an empty year strikes one with a certain awe, because one finds therein no recognition. The years behind have a friendly aspect, and they are warmed by the fires we have kindled, and all their echoes are the echoes of our own voices.
My garden, with its silence and pulses of fragrance that come and go on the airy undulations, affects me like sweet music. Care stops at the gates, and gazes at me wistfully through the bars.
Fame is but an inscription on a grave, and glory the melancholy blazon on a coffin lid.
Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, and the delight in the recognition.
Books are a finer world within the world. (1863)
A man does not plant a tree for himself; he plants it for posterity.
One of the huge mistakes people make is that they try to force an interest on themselves. You don't choose your passions; your passions choose you.
It is in men as in soils where sometimes there is a vein of gold which the owner knows not.
Follow your inclinations with due regard to the policeman round the corner.
Advice is sometimes transmitted more successfully through a joke than grave teaching.
I have been careless, and so have been thwarted by luck and chance, those wreckers of all but the best laid plans.
I'm probably my biggest critic. I worry that if you spend any quality time reveling in good things then karma will slap you upside the head, so I try to stay as even keel as I'm able.
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