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The secret of fortune is joy in our hands. Welcome evermore to gods and men is the self-helping man. For him all doors are flung wide. Him all tongues greet, all honors crown, all eyes follow with desire. Our love goes out to him and embraces him because he did not need it.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Interpretation

What this quote means

True fortune comes from finding joy in our own efforts and self-reliance.

This quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson highlights the power of self-reliance and joy in our endeavors. When a person takes initiative and approaches life with a positive attitude, they not only attract opportunities and recognition but also earn the respect and admiration of others. The message is clear: embracing our own capabilities and finding happiness within ourselves can lead to success and fulfillment.

Themes

FortuneJoySelf-HelpSelf-RelianceSuccess

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could be shared during a motivational speech about entrepreneurship.

More from Ralph Waldo Emerson

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.
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Few people have any next, they live from hand to mouth without a plan, and are always at the end of their line.
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Men cease to interest us when we find their limitations
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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.
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The world belongs to the energetic.
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Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?
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