No one has a prosperity so high and firm that two or three words can't dishearten it.
Interpretation
Words can significantly impact a person's state of prosperity and morale.
This quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson emphasizes the vulnerability of even the most prosperous individuals to negative words or criticism. It suggests that regardless of one's success or stability, the power of language can dishearten and demoralize, reminding us of the importance of kindness and the influential nature of our words.
In practice
During a motivational speech, one might cite this quote to illustrate the importance of supportive language.
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?
Cherish your solitude. Take trains by yourself to places you have never been. Sleep out alone under the stars.
As the caterpillar chooses the fairest leaves to lay her eggs on, so the priest lays his curse on the fairest joys.
Many people think that it is the function of a spiritual teaching to provide answers to life's biggest questions, _x000D_ but actually, the opposite is true. _x000D_ _x000D_ The primary task of any good spiritual teaching is not to _x000D_ answer your questions, but to question your answers.
Economists have allowed themselves to walk into a trap where we say we can forecast, but no serious economist thinks we can. You don't expect dentists to be able to forecast how many teeth you'll have when you're 80. You expect them to give good advice and fix problems.
The one who confidently looks forward to an eternal reward for his efforts in mortality is constantly sustained through his deepest trials. When he is disappointed in love, he does not commit suicide. When loved ones die, he doesn’t despair; when he loses a coveted contest, he doesn’t falter; when war and destruction dissipate his future, he doesn’t sink into a depression. He lives above his world and never loses sight of the goal of his salvation.
The best thing about lying in bed late is that you learn to distinguish between first things and trivia, for whatever presses on you has to prove its importance before it makes you move.
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