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Every Man Is Not So Much A Workman In The World As He Is A Suggestion Of That He Should Be. Men Walk As Prophecies Of The Next Age.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Every Man Is Not

Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Every Man Is Not So Much A Workman In The World As He Is A Suggestion Of That He Should Be. Men Walk As Prophecies Of The Next Age.

Understanding the Quote: "every man is not so much a workman in the world as..."

This quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson reflects deeply on the theme of men. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Men, Growth, Age, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Ralph Waldo Emerson interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson is celebrated for insightful thoughts on men and growth. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Men
Growth
Age
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The Efforts Which We Make To Escape From Our Destiny Only Serve To Lead Us Into It.
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An Eminent Teacher Of Girls Said, "the Idea Of A Girl's Education, Is, Whatever Qualifies Them For Going To Europe.
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We Are A Puny And Fickle Folk. Avarice, Hesitation, And Following Are Our Diseases.
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There Is An Optical Illusion About Every Person We Meet.
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Open The Doors Of Opportunity To Talent And Virtue And They Will Do Themselves Justice, And Property Will Not Be In Bad Hands.
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Do Not Fear To Put Novels Into The Hands Of Young People As An Occasional Holiday Experiment, But Above All, Good Poetry In All Kinds,--epic, Tragedy, Lyric. If We Can Touch The Imagination, We Serve Them; They Will Never Forget It.
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Every Experiment, By Multitudes Or By Individuals, That Has A Sensual And Selfish Aim, Will Fail.
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Eloquence Must Be Grounded On The Plainest Narrative. Afterwards, It May Warm Itself Until It Exhales Symbols Of Every Kind And Color, Speaks Only Through The Most Poetic Forms; But First And Last, It Must Still Be At Bottom A Biblical Statement Of Fact.
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No One Can Read The History Of Astronomy Without Perceiving That Copernicus, Newton, Laplace, Are Not New Men, Or A New Kind Of Men, But That Thales, Anaximenes, Hipparchus, Empodocles, Aristorchus, Pythagorus, Oenipodes, Had Anticipated Them.
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Some Eyes Threaten Like A Loaded And Levelled Pistol, And Others Are As Insulting As Hissing Or Kicking; Some Have No More Expression Than Blueberries, While Others Are As Deep As A Well Which You Can Fall Into.
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We Go To Europe To Be Americanized.
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Tis A Rule Of Manners To Avoid Exaggeration.
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A Complete Man Should Need No Auxiliaries To His Personal Presence.
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Nature Is Sanative, Refining, Elevating. How Cunningly She Hides Every Wrinkle Of Her Inconceivable Antiquity Under Roses, And Violets, And Morning Dew! Every Inch Of The Mountains Is Scarred By Unimaginable Convulsions, Yet The New Day Is Purple With The Bloom Of Youth And Love.
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Nothing Shall Warp Me From The Belief That Every Man Is A Lover Of Truth. There Is No Pure Lie, No Pure Malignity In Nature. The Entertainment Of The Proposition Of Depravity Is The Last Profligacy And Profanation. There Is No Skepticism, No Atheism But That. Could It Be Received Into Common Belief, Suicide Would Unpeople The Planet.
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It Is The Fine Souls Who Serve Us, And Not What Is Called Fine Society. Fine Society Is Only A Self-protection Against The Vulgarities Of The Street And The Tavern.
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The Days Are Made On A Loom Whereof The Warp And Woof Are Past And Future Time. They Are Majestically Dressed, As If Every God Brought A Thread To The Skyey Web.
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Or Whipping Its Rough Surface For A Trout.
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The Ornaments Of Our Homes Are The Friends That Visit It
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The Poet Knows That He Speaks Adequately, Then, Only When He Speaks Somewhat Wildly.
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Every Man Is Eloquent Once In His Life.
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By The Rude Bridge That Arched The Flood, Their Flag To April's Breeze Unfurled, Here Once The Embattled Farmers Stood, And Fired The Shot Heard Round The World.
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Concentration Is The Secret Of Srength.
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But If A Man Would Be Alone, Let Him Look At The Stars. The Rays That Come From Those Heavenly Worlds, Will Separate Between Him And Vulgar Things.
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Persecution Readily Knits Friendship Between Its Victims.
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What We Call Results Are Beginnings.
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The Artists Must Be Sacrificed To Their Art. Like The Bees, They Must Put Their Lives Into The Sting They Give.
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Guard Well Your Spare Moments. They Are Like Uncut Diamonds. Discard Them And Their Value Will Never Be Known. Improve Them And They Will Become The Brightest Gems In A Useful Life.
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Wish
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In The Learned Journal, In The Influential Newspaper, I Discern No Form; Only Some Irresponsible Shadow; Oftener Some Monied Corporation, Or Some Dangler, Who Hopes, In The Mask And Robes Of His Paragraph, To Pass For Somebody. But Through Every Clause And Part Of Speech Of The Right Book I Meet The Eyes Of The Most Determined Men; His Force And Terror Inundate Every Word: The Commas And Dashes Are Alive; So That The Writing Is Athletic And Nimble,--can Go Far And Live Long.
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Eye
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Sunshine Cannot Bleach The Snow, Nor Time Unmake What Poets Know
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In Good Company, The Individuals Merge Their Egotism Into A Social Soul Exactly Co-extensive With The Several Consciousnesses There Present.
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Life Loiters At The Book's First Page,-- Ah! Could We Turn The Leaf.
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Those Who Have Ruled Human Destinies, Like Planets, For Thousands Of Years, Were Not Handsome Men.
Leadership
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Men
Awake At Night
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History
Records
Gains
We Are Shut Up In Schools And College Recitation Rooms For Ten Or Fifteen Years, And Come Out At Last With A Bellyful Of Words And Do Not Know A Thing.
Education
Learning
School
Politics Is A Deleterious Profession, Like Some Poisonous Handicrafts.
Politics
Handicrafts
Poisonous
There Is No Thought In Any Mind, But It Quickly Tends To Convert Itself Into Power.
Power
Thinking
Mind
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Men
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Men
Circles
So Much Of Our Time Is Spent In Preparation, So Much In Routine, And So Much In Retrospect, That The Amount Of Each Person's Genius Is Confined To A Very Few Hours.
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Routine
When We See A Special Reformer We Feel Like Asking Him, What Right Have You, Sir, To Your Own Virtue? Is Virtue Piecemeal?
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Overcoming
Resistance
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Heart
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Light
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Fire
People
Endurance
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Individual
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Of The Shaker Society, It Was Formerly A Sort Of Proverb In The Country, That They Always Sent The Devil To Market.
Country
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Respect
Nature
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Heart
Broken
The German Intellect Wants The French Sprightliness, The Fine Practical Understanding Of The English, And The American Adventure; But It Has A Certain Probity, Which Never Rests In A Superficial Performance, But Asks Steadily, To What End? A German Public Asks For A Controlling Sincerity.
Adventure
Understanding
Want
Nature Ever Faithful Is To Such As Trust Her Faithfulness.
Nature
Faithful
Faithfulness
But To Most Of Us Society Shows Not Its Face And Eye, But Its Side And Back. To Stand In True Relations With Men In A False Age Isworth A Fit Of Insanity, Is It Not?
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Eye
Men
I Will Not Hide My Tastes Or Aversions. I Will So Trust That What Is Deep Is Holy, That I Will Do Strongly Before The Sun And Moon Whatever Only Rejoices Me, And The Heart Appoints
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Heart
Moon
Civilization Depends On Morality.
Civilization
Morality
Depends
There Is Genius As Well In Virtue As In Intellect. 'tis The Doctrine Of Faith Over Works.
Doctrine
Genius
Virtue
You Will Always Find Those Who Think They Know What Is Your Duty Better Than You Know It.
Thinking
Solitude
Self Reliance
We Are The Prisoners Of Ideas.
Ideas
Conflict
Prisoner
Dreams Have A Poetic Integrity And Truth. This Limbo And Dust-hole Of Thought Is Presided Over By A Certain Reason, Too.
Dream
Integrity
Dust
Works Of The Intellect Are Great Only By Comparison With Each Other.
Intelligence
Intellect
Comparison
Few And Mean As My Gifts May Be, I Actually Am, And Do Not Need For My Own Assurance Or The Assurance Of My Fellows Any Secondary Testimony.
Mean
Needs
May
But A Compassion For That Which Is Not And Cannot Be Useful And Lovely, Is Degrading And Futile.
Compassion
Lovely
Degrading
Nature Is A Language And Every New Fact One Learns Is A New Word; But It Is Not A Language Taken To Pieces And Dead In The Dictionary, But The Language Put Together Into A Most Significant And Universal Sense. I Wish To Learn This Language - Not That I May Know A New Grammar, But That I May Read The Great Book Which Is Written In That Tongue.
Nature
Book
Taken
When It Is Darkest, We Can See The Stars.
Stars
Suicidal
Suicide Inspirational
The Word Miracle, As Pronounced By Christian Churches, Gives A False Impression; It Is Monster. It Is Not One With The Blowing Clover And The Falling Rain.
Christian
Rain
Fall
It Is An Esoteric Doctrine Of Society, That A Little Wickedness Is Good To Make Muscle; As If Conscience Were Not Good For Hands And Legs.
Hands
Doctrine
Wickedness
Manners Have Been Somewhat Cynically Defined To Be A Contrivance Of Wise Men To Keep Fools At A Distance. Fashion Is Shrewd To Detect Those Who Do Not Belong To Her Train, And Seldom Wastes Her Attentions. Society Is Very Swift In Its Instincts, And If You Do Not Belong To It, Resists And Sneers At You, Or Quietly Drops You.
Wise
Fashion
Distance
If There Be Any Man Who Thinks The Ruin Of A Race Of Men A Small Matter, Compared With The Last Decoration And Completions Of Hisown Comfort,--who Would Not So Much As Part With His Ice- Cream, To Save Them From Rapine And Manacles, I Think I Must Not Hesitate To Satisfy That Man That Also His Cream And Vanilla Are Safer And Cheaper By Placing The Negro Nation On A Fair Footing Than By Robbing Them.
Men
Thinking
Ice Cream
Make Youself Necessary To Someone.
Men Have Looked Away From Themselves And At Things So Long That They Have Come To Esteem The Religious, Learned And Civil Institutions As Guards Of Property, And They Deprecate Assaults On These, Because They Feel Them To Be Assaults On Property. They Measure Their Esteem Of Each Other By What Each Has, And Not By What Each Is.
Religious
Men
Long
Had I But Written As Many Odes In Praise Of Muhammad And Ali As I Have Composed For King Mahmud, They Would Have Showered A Hundred Blessings On Me.
Kings
Blessing
Odes
No Matter How You Seem To Fatten On A Crime, There Can Never Be Good For The Bee Which Is Bad For The Hive.
Compassion
Matter
Bees
I Think It Is The Best Of Humanity That Goes Out To Walk. In Happy Hours, I Think All Affairs May Be Wisely Postponed For Walking.
Thinking
Humanity
May
Wherever There Is Failure, There Is Some Giddiness, Some Superstition About Luck, Some Step Omitted, Which, Nature Never Pardons.
Failure
Luck
Superstitions
It Is The Fault Of Our Rhetoric That We Cannot Strongly State One Fact Without Seeming To Belie Some Other.
Faults
Facts
States
Every Man Is A Divinity In Disguise, A God Playing The Fool.
Crazy
Men
Mad
The Tempered Light Of The Woods Is Like A Perpetual Morning.
Nature
Morning
Light
The Reward Of Commercial Civilization Is The Ability To Consume A Never-ending Array Of Products.there Are Limits Beyond Which Commodities Cannot Be Multiplied Without Preventing Their Consumers From Affirming Themselves Through The Exercise Of Their Personal Freedom.when Market Dependence Reaches A Certain Threshold It Deprives People Of Their Power To Live Creatively And To Act Autonomously. And Precisely Because This New Impotence Is So Deeply Experienced, It Is Expressed With Difficulty.
Exercise
Civilization
People
The Virtue In Most Request Is Conformity.
Self Reliance
Aversion
Conformity
The Sanity Of Society Is A Balance Of A Thousand Insanity's.
Insanity
Balance
Psychological
There Are Days When The Great Are Near Us, When There Is No Frown On Their Brow, No Condescension Even; When They Take Us By The Hand, And We Share Their Thought.
Greatness
Hands
Share
Of All Tools, An Observatory Is The Most Sublime. . . . What Is So Good In A College As An Observatory? The Sublime Attaches To The Door And To The First Stair You Ascent, That This Is The Road To The Stars.
Stars
College
Doors
Philosophically Considered, The Universe Is Composed Of Nature And The Soul.
Soul
Universe
Give Me Insight Into Today And You May Have The Antique And Future Worlds.
Time
Future
Giving
The Task Ahead Of Us Is Never As Great As The Power Behind Us.
Inspirational
Change
Recovery
Throughout The Ages There Have Always Been Those Who Have Been Willing To Go Beyond The Norms And Reach For That Unknown And Distant Star.
Stars
Teaching
Learning
He Who Is In Love Is Wise And Is Becoming Wiser, Sees Newly Every Time He Looks At The Object Beloved, Drawing From It With His Eyes And His Mind Those Virtues Which It Possesses.
Love
Wise
Philosophy
Though Love Repine, And Reason Chafe, There Came A Voice Without Reply,- "'tis Man's Perdition To Be Safe, When For The Truth He Ought To Die."
Love
Truth
Men
Keep Your Friendships In Repair.
Friendship
Patience
The Eyes Of Men Converse As Much As Their Tongues.
Eye
Men
Tongue
Every Man Is The Inlet And May Become The Outlet Of All There Is In God.
Men
May
Outlets
There Is Some Reason To Believe That When A Man Does Not Write His Poetry It Escapes By Other Vents Through Him, Instead Of The One Vent Of Writing; Clings To His Form And Manners, Whilst Poets Have Often Nothing Poetical About Them Except Their Verses.
Believe
Writing
Creativity
Society Does Not Love Its Unmaskers.
Society
Doe
Only That Is Poetry Which Cleanses And Mans Me.
Poetry
The Only True Gifts Are A Portion Of Yourself.
Portions
True Gifts
In Dreams We Are True Poets; We Create The Persons Of The Drama; We Give Them Appropriate Figures Faces, Costumes; They Are Perfect In Their Organs, Attitudes, Manners; Moreover They Speak After Their Own Characters, Not Ours; And We Listen With Surprise To What They Say.
Dream
Attitude
Drama
The Public Values The Invention More Than The Inventor Does. The Inventor Knows There Is Much More And Better Where This Came From.
Doe
Invention
Inventor
What A Searching Preacher Of Self-command Is The Varying Phenomenon Of Health.
Self
Healthy
Preacher
The Domestic Man, Who Loves No Music So Well As His Kitchen Clock, And The Airs Which The Logs Sing To Him As They Burn On The Hearth, Has Solaces Which Others Never Dream Of.
Dream
Heart
Men
Wit Makes Its Own Welcome, And Levels All Distinction. No Dignity, No Learning, No Force Of Character, Can Make Any Stand Against Good Wit. It Is Like Ice, On Which No Beauty Of Form, No Majesty Of Carriage, Can Plead Any Immunity; They Must Walk Gingerly, According To The Laws Of Ice, Or Down They Must Go, Dignity And All.
Character
Ice
Law
Let A Man Behave In His Own House As A Guest.
Home
Men
House
If We Tire Of The Saints, Shakspeare Is Our City Of Refuge.
Cities
Saint
Tire
Sleep Lingers All Our Lifetime About Our Eyes, As Night Hovers All Day In The Boughs Of The Fir-tree.
Sleep
Eye
Night
A Child Convinced Against His Will Is Of The Same Opinion Still. The Reward For A Thing Well Done, Is To Have Done It.
Children
Done
Rewards
Shakspeare Is The Only Biographer Of Shakspeare; And Even He Can Tell Nothing, Except To The Shakspeare In Us; That Is, To Our Most Apprehensive And Sympathetic Hour.
Hours
Sympathetic
Biographers
Every Man Is An Infinitely Repelling Orb, And Holds His Individual Being On That Condition.
Men
Orbs
Psychological
The Saint And Poet Seek Privacy To Ends The Most Public And Universal: And It Is The Secret Of Culture, To Interest The Man More In His Public, Than In His Private Quality.
Men
Solitude
Secret
Tragedy Is In The Eye Of The Observer, And Not In The Heart Of The Sufferer.
Heart
Eye
Tragedy
The Most Useful Man In The Most Useful World, So Long As Only Commodity Was Served, Would Remain Unsatisfied. But, As Fast As He Sees Beauty, Life Acquires A Very High Value.
Beauty
Men
Long
We Imperatively Require A Perception Of And A Homage To Beauty In Our Companions. Other Virtues Are In Request In The Field And Workyard, But A Certain Degree Of Taste Is Not To Be Spared In Those We Sit With.
Perception
Degrees
Taste
Most Of The Classical Citations You Shall Hear Or Read In The Current Journals Or Speeches Were Not Drawn From The Originals, But From Previous Quotations In English Books.
Book
Speech
Currents
Old Age Brings Along With Its Uglinesses The Comfort That You Will Soon Be Out Of It, - Which Ought To Be A Substantial Relief To Such Discontented Pendulums As We Are.
Age
Comfort
Relief
The Fatal Trait Of The Times Is The Divorce Between Religion And Morality.
Divorce
Religion
Morality
What Is Originality? It Is Being One's Self, And Reporting Accurately What We See And Are.
Self
Originality
Accuracy
What Is The Hardest Task In The World? To Think.
Thinking
World
Tasks
The Socialism Of Our Day Has Done Good Service In Setting Men To Thinking How Certain Civilizing Benefits, Now Only Enjoyed By Theopulent, Can Be Enjoyed By All.
Men
Thinking
Done
Though We Love Goodness And Not Stealing, Yet Also We Love Freedom And Not Preaching.
Freedom
Stealing
Goodness
'tis A Short Sight To Limit Our Faith In Laws To Those Of Gravity, Of Chemistry, Of Botany, And So Forth. Those Laws Do Not Stop Where Our Eyes Lose Them, But Push The Same Geometry And Chemistry Up Into The Invisible Plane Of Social And Rational Life, So That, Look Where We Will, In A Boy's Game, Or In The Strifes Of Races, A Perfect Reaction, A Perpetual Judgment Keeps Watch And Ward.
Eye
Science
Boys
Skepticism Is Slow Suicide.
Suicide
Suicidal
Skepticism
Every Burned Book Enlightens The World.
Book
World
Censorship
The Two Parties Which Divide The State, The Party Of Conservation And That Of Innovation, Are Very Old, And Have Disputed The Possession Of The World Ever Since It Was Made.
Party
Two
Political
To Map Out A Course Of Action And Follow It To An End Requires Some Of The Same Courage That A Soldier Needs.
Courage
Decide Upon
Soldier
The World Exists For The Education Of Each Man.
Men
World
The Scholar May Lose Himself In Schools, In Words, And Become A Pedant; But When He Comprehends His Duties, He Above All Men Is Arealist, And Converses With Things.
School
Men
May
If You Would Not Be Known To Do Anything, Never Do It.
Inspirational
Character
Known
Read Proudly--put The Duty Of Being Read Invariably On The Author. If He Is Not Read, Whose Fault Is It? I Am Quite Ready To Be Charmed, But I Shall Not Make-believe I Am Charmed.
Believe
Reading
Faults
Life Too Near Paralyses Art.
Life
Art
Paralysis
Most Of The Great Results Of History Are Brought About By Discreditable Means.
Mean
Historical
Results
The World Leaves No Track In Space, And The Greatest Action Of Man No Mark In The Vast Idea.
Men
Ideas
Space
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