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Doubt not, O poet, but persist. Say 'It is in me, and shall out.' Stand there, balked and dumb, stuttering and stammering, hissed and hooted, stand and strive, until at last rage draw out of thee that dream-power which every night shows thee is thine own; a power transcending all limit and privacy, and by virtue of which a man is the conductor of the whole river of electricity.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Persist in your creative endeavors despite doubt and criticism.

This quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson encourages poets and artists to overcome their self-doubt and the negative opinions of others. It emphasizes the importance of determination in expressing one's inner creativity and tapping into the limitless power of imagination, which can be channeled like electricity to inspire and connect with the world.

Themes

CreativityDoubtPersistenceExpressionImagination

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a motivational speech for aspiring artists.

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.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
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.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
The world belongs to the energetic.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead

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