“What we fear of doing most is usually what we most need to do.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Live well, learn plenty, laugh often, love much. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
The sun set, but set not his hope:
Stars rose; his faith was earlier up:
Fixed on the enormous galaxy,
Deeper and older seemed his eye;
And matched his sufferance sublime
The taciturnity of time.
He spoke, and words more soft than rain
Brought the Age of Gold again:
His action won such reverence sweet
As hid all measure of the feat.
NOTE: Emerson takes away all excuses. It’s up to us to decide who we want to be. There is a huge difference in choosing between what I want to be and who I want to be. What I want to be is a choice of careers. We pursue the what. Often in pursuit of the what our what changes. Who I want to be refers to something much deeper and intrinsic to our being. Only those close to us and our self know the who I am. Other people see us in terms of what I am. Do I choose to listen to the voices demanding I become more of what I am? Or, do I listen to the internal voice that says, “Who are you? And, who are you becoming?” Take time to reflect on those questions. What would those who are closest to you say?
That you are fair or wise is vain,
Or strong, or rich, or generous;
You must have also the untaught strain
That sheds beauty on the rose.
There is a melody born of melody,
Which melts the world into a sea.
Toil could never compass it,
Art its height could never hit,
It came never out of wit,
But a music music-born
Well may Jove and Juno scorn.
Thy beauty, if it lack the fire
Which drives me mad with sweet desire,
What boots it? what the soldier’s mail,
Unless he conquer and prevail?
What all the goods thy pride which lift,
If thou pine for another’s gift?
Alas! that one is born in blight,
Victim of perpetual slight;—
When thou lookest in his face,
Thy heart saith, Brother! go thy ways!
None shall ask thee what thou doest,
Or care a rush for what thou knowest,
Or listen when thou repliest,
Or remember where thou liest,
Or how thy supper is sodden,—
And another is born
To make the sun forgotten.
Surely he carries a talisman
Under his tongue;
Broad are his shoulders, and strong,
And his eye is scornful,
Threatening, and young.
I hold it of little matter,
Whether your jewel be of pure water,
A rose diamond or a white,—
But whether it dazzle me with light.
I care not how you are drest,
In the coarsest, or in the best,
Nor whether your name is base or brave,
Nor tor the fashion of your behavior,—
But whether you charm me,
Bid my bread feed, and my fire warm me,
And dress up nature in your favor.
One thing is forever good,
That one thing is success,—
Dear to the Eumenides,
And to all the heavenly brood.
Who bides at home, nor looks abroad,
Carries the eagles, and masters the sword.
In his work, Self Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, “These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God to-day. There is no time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence. Before a leaf-bud has burst, its whole life acts; in the full-blown flower there is no more; in the leafless root there is no less. Its nature is satisfied, and it satisfies nature, in all moments alike.” P. 132
NOTE: Be yourself. You can be no other if you are living authentically. Live in the present and allow yourself to grow into something more miraculous each day. You are a beautiful living miracle.
In his work, Self Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, “Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.” Pps. 122-123
NOTE: The great herd tries its best to conform and make sure what it says conforms to what the herd wants it to say. Researchers point out that the greatest ideas and innovations come from the edges. They come from people who do not conform to the herd but intuitively listen to a different voice. If you’re feeling an internal conflict, it may be time to think about leaving the herd mentality and walking to edge.
In his work, Self Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, “What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” P. 118
NOTE: Maintaining one’s independence of thought is important in a world that screams at us telling us what is right or wrong. Some stop thinking and allow others to think for them. They then become the parrots of these people muttering things they themselves do not understand. An independent thinkers weighs what he hears and makes a judgement on the worthiness of what he heard. Question everything.
