Acquire a government over your ideas, that they may come down when they are called, and depart when they are bidden.
Isaac WattsRead
If I could reach from pole to pole_x000D_ or grasp the ocean with a span,_x000D_ I would be measured by the soul_x000D_ The mind's the standard of the Man.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True worth is determined by one's inner qualities, not by physical capabilities or possessions.
In this quote, Isaac Watts emphasizes that the real measure of a person's value lies in their intellect and moral character rather than in their physical strength or worldly achievements. The metaphor of reaching from 'pole to pole' or grasping the ocean symbolizes the vast capabilities one might possess, yet these external attributes pale in comparison to the 'soul' and 'mind,' which truly define a person's greatness.
Themes
SoulMindCharacterMeasurementWorth
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be a powerful message at a graduation speech to inspire students to value their inner qualities.
More from Isaac Watts
All quotes βInstructors should not only be skilful in those sciences which they teach, but have skill in the method of teaching, and patience in the practice.
Isaac WattsRead
Acquaint yourself with your own ignorance.
Isaac WattsRead
To prevent and suppress rising resentment is wise and glorious, is manly and divine.
Isaac WattsRead
Kind words toward those you daily meet, Kind words and actions right, Will make this life of ours most sweet, Turn darkness into night.
Isaac WattsRead
Though reading and conversation may furnish us with many ideas of men and things, yet it is our own meditation must form our judgment.
Isaac WattsRead
Similar quotes
In 50 years - or 20 years, or 200 years - our current epistemic horizon (the Big Bang, roughly) may look as parochial as the horizon Newton had to settle for in his day, but no doubt there will still be good questions whose answers elude us.
Daniel DennettRead
This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.
Franklin D. RooseveltRead
If you believe, as the Greeks did, that man is at the mercy of the gods, then you write tragedy. The end is inevitable from the beginning. But if you believe that man can solve his own problems and is at nobody's mercy, then you will probably write melodrama.
Lillian HellmanRead
The good is, like nature, an immense landscape in which man advances through centuries of exploration.
Jose Ortega Y GassetRead
'Melancholy' is prettier than 'depression'; it connotes a kind of nocturnal grace. Makes one feel more innocently beleaguered.
Margo JeffersonRead
The roulette table pays nobody except him that keeps it. Nevertheless a passion for gaming is common, though a passion for keeping roulette tables is unknown.
George Bernard ShawRead