Few people have any next, they live from hand to mouth without a plan, and are always at the end of their line.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of planning for the future rather than living perpetually in the moment without direction.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote reflects on the state of many individuals who lack foresight and purpose in their lives. It suggests that many people go through life without a clear plan, merely reacting to situations as they arise, which ultimately leads to a sense of being overwhelmed and out of control. Emerson encourages the idea that having a vision or plan is crucial for a fulfilling and productive life, as it enables one to look beyond immediate circumstances and work toward greater goals.
In practice
During a motivational speech about career planning.
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.
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?
Enthusiasm is the engine of success.
Never, never pin your whole faith on any human being: not if he is the best and wisest in the whole world. There are lots of nice things you can do with sand; but do not try building a house on it.
A man in a passion, rides a mad horse.
I must congratulate myself, in passing, for never having lost the ability to examine my conscience, never having lost the gift of finding myself wanting & defective. Why fear the criticism of others when you, yourself, are first out of the critical gate? If self-denigration is the race I am the winner, even before the starting gun. Collect the bets.
Everyone complains of his memory, and nobody complains of his judgment.
Money is like manure. It stinks when you pile it; it grows when you spread it
A mind all logic is like a knife all blade. It makes the hand bleed that uses it.
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