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.
Interpretation
A good reader brings a book to life, uncovering personal insights that resonate uniquely with them.
Ralph Waldo Emerson emphasizes the symbiotic relationship between a reader and a book, suggesting that the worth of a book is enhanced by the quality of the reader. In this context, a discerning and reflective reader can extract profound wisdom and personal connections from the text that may go unnoticed by others, illustrating the importance of perspective in literary interpretation.
In practice
During a book club discussion, one might say, 'As Ralph Waldo Emerson noted, 'Tis the good reader that makes the good book,' to emphasize the value of shared interpretations.
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
The world belongs to the energetic.
Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?
Enthusiasm is the engine of success.
Very few, if any, first-generation black or white or Asian kids will pursue a Ph.D. They'll pursue the professions for economic security. Many will go to law school and/or business school.
What is learned without pleasure is forgotten without remorse.
I think the cardinal rule of learning to write is learning to read first. I learned to write by learning to read.
I've often been accused of making anthropology into literature, but anthropology is also field research. Writing is central to it.
The libraries of America are and must ever remain the home of free and inquiring minds. To them, our citizens-of all ages and races, of all creeds and persuasions-must be able to turn with clear confidence that there they can freely seek the whole truth, unvarnished by fashion and uncompromised by expediency.
Teach and practice, practice and teach - that is all we have; that is all we are good for; that is all we ever ought to do.
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