In all my lectures, I have taught one doctrine, namely, the infinitude of the private man.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the limitless potential and individuality of every person.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote speaks to the idea that each individual possesses infinite value and possibilities. It suggests that within every person lies an immense depth of character, experience, and potential that should be recognized and nurtured. This doctrine aligns with Emerson's broader transcendentalist beliefs, emphasizing self-reliance and the inherent worth of the individual in a society that often pressures conformity.
In practice
In a motivational speech about personal growth and development.
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?
To overcome difficulties is to experience the full delight of existence.
in stillness, I watched myselfget eaten by mosquitoes... the itch was maddening at first but eventually it just melded into a general burning feeling and i rode that heat to a mld euphoria. I allowed the pain to lose its specific associations and become pure sensation... and that eventually lifted me out of myself and into meditation.
A weakened mind always sees everything through a black veil. The soul makes its own horizons; your soul is dark, which is why you see such a cloudy sky.
The cause is hidden; the effect is visible to all.
The waters are in motion, but the moon retains its serenity.
Of the tyrant, spies and informers are the principal instruments. War is his favorite occupation, for the sake of engrossing the attention of the people, and making himself necessary to them as their leader.
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