No facts are to me sacred; none are profane; I simply experiment, an endless seeker, with no past at my back.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of curiosity and experimentation in the pursuit of knowledge without being bound by past experiences.
Ralph Waldo Emerson reflects on the nature of knowledge and learning, suggesting that a true seeker of understanding should remain open-minded and willing to explore ideas without being limited by established beliefs or experiences. He advocates for a mindset that values experimentation and continuous inquiry, rather than adhering strictly to societal norms or previously accepted truths.
In practice
Using this quote in a lecture on the importance of scientific inquiry.
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.
Few people have any next, they live from hand to mouth without a plan, and are always at the end of their line.
Men cease to interest us when we find their limitations
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.
The world belongs to the energetic.
Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?
Would you persuade, speak of interest, not of reason.
These are the living springs of great thoughts and great actions. Everything grows clear in the reflections from the Infinite.
When you get into your car, shut the door and be there for just half a minute. Breathe, feel the energy inside your body, look around at the sky, the trees. The mind might tell you, 'I don't have time.' But that's the mind talking to you. Even the busiest person has time for 30 seconds of space.
The pain I feel now is the happiness I had before. That's the deal.
As long as one is following the right way, one should never be concerned about the reproaches of those who like to find faults.
If you're in the middle of the ocean with no flippers and no life preserver and you hear a helicopter, this is music. You have to adjust to your needs at the moment.
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