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Tis not what man Does which exalts him, but what man Would do!
Robert Browning
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote emphasizes that a person's potential and intentions are more significant than their current actions.

Robert Browning's quote suggests that the true value of a person lies not in their completed actions but in their aspirations and the moral choices they strive to make. It implies that one's character is defined by ambition and the ideals a person holds, rather than merely their present achievements.

Themes

PotentialAspirationIntentionsCharacterMorality

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a motivational speech to inspire individuals to pursue their dreams.

More from Robert Browning

If two lives join, there is oft a scar. They are one and one, with a shadowy third; One near one is too far.
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I think, am sure, a brother's love exceeds_x000D_ _x000D_ All the world's loves in its unworldliness.
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I dare not so honor my mere wishes and prayers as to put them for a moment beside your noble acts; but this know, I would rather submit to the worst of deaths, so far as pain goes, than have a single dog or cat tortured on the pretence of sparing me a twinge or two.
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How well I know what I mean to do When the long dark Autumn evenings come, And where, my soul, is thy pleasant hue? With the music of all thy voices, dumb In life’s November too! I shall be found by the fire, suppose, O’er a great wise book as beseemeth age, While the shutters flap as the cross-wind blows, And I turn the page, and I turn the page, Not verse now, only prose!
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How good is life, the mere living!
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