Next time you think you failed...

muth3rluvx2
muth3rluvx2 Posts: 1,156 Member
edited September 2024 in Motivation and Support
Success
To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch
or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier
because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Replies

  • WolffEarl
    WolffEarl Posts: 379 Member
    That is a wonderful poem. Worthwhile words to live by. Hurrah for Ralph and a thank you for posting and reminding us.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    Except that Emerson didn't actually write it, according to the Emerson Society.
  • muth3rluvx2
    muth3rluvx2 Posts: 1,156 Member
    Thanks Wolff. The principle at the school I'm interning at used it today during their graduation and it really hit a deep spot for me.

    Concordancia: This particular version is attributed to him (as no other clear author has been identified for THIS version) in spite of its stunning similarity to Bessie Stanley's. There are many versions by many authors, all of them very much resembling another. Attribution is also made by whom one read something by. I read the following quote, cited from Einstein: Life is a mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved. It's one of my favorites, has been for decades. After researching its authenticity, whaddya' know, no one really knows who came up with it, it's been passed through so many author's writings. So we associate quotes with who's works we find it in. Emerson is popularly accepted as having written this piece, it's his name people associate with it, it's what's familiar to people.

    And really, I'm rather disappointed that someone is lurking just to point out arbitrary details that have nothing to do with the point and only serves to undermine the positive aspects of something.
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