I sometimes think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the idea that while we often celebrate those who succeed through early action, we should also consider the consequences of those actions on others.
Franklin D. Roosevelt's quote reflects the duality of luck and opportunity, suggesting that while the 'early bird' is often praised for its success, we must not overlook the plight of the 'early worm,' which symbolizes the risks and sacrifices that come with being first. It serves as a reminder to appreciate not just the advantages of proactive behavior, but also the potential downsides that others may face as a result of it.
In practice
This quote can be used in a leadership seminar to discuss the risks of taking the lead too quickly.
There has been one persistent theme through all Axis propaganda. This theme has been that Americans are admittedly rich, that Americans have considerable industrial power - but that Americans are soft and decadent, that they cannot and will not unite and work and fight. ... Let them tell that to the Marines!
The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.
A war of ideas can no more be won without books than a naval war can be won without ships. Books, like ships, have the toughest armor, the longest cruising range, and mount the most powerful guns.
Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
A world turned into a stereotype, a society converted into a regiment, a life translated into a routine, make it difficult for either art or artists to survive. Crush individuality in society and you crush art as well. Nourish the conditions of a free life and you nourish the arts, too.
She had lived her early years as though she were waiting for something she might, but never did, become.
There has always been a strange dissonance between the public and the private in Nigeria.
The only thing wrong with Christianity is the lack of suffering.
A well-paid slave is nonetheless a slave.
People used to say, "Ignorance is no excuse." Today, ignorance is no problem. After all, you have "a right to your own opinion" - and self-esteem to boot.
People quickly grow accustomed to being the slaves of mystery.
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