As we are, so we associate. The good, by affinity, seek the good; the vile, by affinity, the vile. Thus of their own volition, souls proceed into Heaven, into Hell.
Interpretation
Our associations reflect our character; like-minded individuals gravitate towards each other, shaping our destinies.
This quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson suggests that the nature of our associations and relationships is a reflection of our own character. Good individuals tend to seek out and connect with others of similar virtue, while those with negative or vile traits naturally congregate with like-minded individuals. This idea emphasizes the concept that we actively choose our companions based on our own moral and ethical standing, which ultimately influences our path in life, leading us either towards enlightenment or despair.
In practice
During a motivational speech about self-improvement, this quote can be used to illustrate the importance of surrounding oneself with positive influences.
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?
There are nuclear-weapons-free zones in several parts of the world already, except that they're not implemented fully, because the U.S. won't allow it.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.
It is rather hard and certainly depressing to admit guilt and to repent
The world is quieter now. It is never quiet, but it can get quieter. What strange creatures we are, to find silence peaceful, when permanent silence is the thing we most dread. Nighttime is not that. Nighttime still rustles, still creaks and whispers and trembles in its throat. It is not darkness we fear, but our own helplessness within it. How merciful to have been granted the other senses.
I am malicious because I am miserable
It becomes still more difficult to findβ¨Words at once true and kind,β¨Or not untrue and not unkind.
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