A vivid thought brings the power to paint it; and in proportion to the depth of its source is the force of its projection.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that the strength of our thoughts determines the impact they have when expressed. The deeper the thought, the more power it holds.
Ralph Waldo Emerson emphasizes the importance of the quality and depth of our thoughts in this quote. When a thought is vivid and well-formed, it possesses the potential to be expressed creatively and effectively. The deeper the source of this thought, which can refer to personal experiences, knowledge, or understanding, the greater its ability to influence and inspire others. Emerson's insights highlight the connection between inner contemplation and outward expression, suggesting that truly impactful ideas originate from profound contemplation.
In practice
During a motivational speech emphasizing the power of imagination.
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?
He cannot "tempt" to virtue as we do to vice. He wants them to learn to walk and must therefore take away His hand; and if only the will to walk is really there He is pleased even with their stumbles.
We've been a free people living under the law, with faith in our Maker and in our future. I've said before that the most sublime picture in American history is of George Washington on his knees in the snow at Valley Forge. That image personifies a people who know that it's not enough to depend on our own courage and goodness; we must also seek help from God, our Father and Preserver.
Everything is true,' he said. 'Everything anybody has ever thought.' 'Will you be all right?' 'I'll be all right,' he said, and thought, And I'm going to die. Both those are true, too.
Why go from the individual to the entire race, from the singular to the group, from the guilty to the innocent? We know why. That is how racism works. That is racism in action.
Better guilt than the terrible burden of freedom and responsibility.
Modes are infinite, and laws are infinite.
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