The reason why men do not obey us, is because they see the mud at the bottom of our eye.
Interpretation
People are often reluctant to follow others when they perceive their flaws or imperfections.
This quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson suggests that individuals may struggle to earn respect and obedience due to their visible imperfections or vulnerabilities. The metaphor of 'mud at the bottom of our eye' implies that when others can see our faults, it undermines our authority and diminishes the trust they place in us, making it difficult for them to follow our lead.
In practice
In a team meeting to encourage open communication and trust.
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?
You had to deal every day with people who were foolish and lazy and untruthful and downright unpleasant, and you could certainly end up thinking that the world would be considerably improved if you gave them a slap.
We discover that we do not know our role; we look for a mirror; we want to remove our make-up and take off what is false and real. But somewhere a piece of disguise that we forgot still sticks to us. A trace of exaggeration remains in our eyebrows; we do not notice that the corners of our mouth are bent. And so we walk around, a mockery and a mere half: neither having achieved being nor actors.
I cannot be angry at God, in whom I do not believe.
The collection of taxes which are not absolutely required, which do not beyond reasonable doubt contribute to public welfare, is only a species of legalized larceny. Under this Republic the rewards of industry belong to those who earn them.
Man selects only for his own good: Nature only for that of the being which she tends.
A low capacity for getting along with those near us often goes hand in hand with a high receptivity to the idea of the brotherhood of men.
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