One of our statesmen said, "The curse of this country is eloquent men."
Interpretation
Eloquent men can influence society in both positive and negative ways, and this can be seen as a curse.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote suggests that while eloquence can be a powerful tool for persuasion, it can also lead to manipulation and deception. The speaker implies that charismatic and articulate individuals may use their gifts to sway public opinion or lead the masses astray, thus becoming a curse rather than a blessing to society.
In practice
During a debate, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of critical thinking over persuasive speech.
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?
I can't admit to myself that the creation of a Palestinian state won't happen. What I know is that with each passing year it gets more and more difficult to happen, not least because there is more and more bloodshed, generation upon generation.
Government proposes, bureaucracy disposes. And the bureaucracy must dispose of government proposals by dumping them on us.
May the States be so bound to each other as forever to defy European politics. Upon that union, their consequence, their happiness, will depend. This is the first wish of a heart more truly American than words can express.
Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, (I conjure you to believe me fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government.
One of the biggest curses from which India is suffering - I do not say that other countries are free from it, but I think our condition is much worse - is bribery and corruption. That really is a poison.
The political world is defined by relationships rather than transactions, and by numerous actors at home and abroad with independent power. Navigating such a world is difficult and precarious.
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