When chaos, like an all-consuming fog, makes its presence known, it’s good to have great wisdoms at hand to aid in righting your thoughts. I offer you a few of my favorites, all of which are from Emerson. Were it the case that these were all I were to have ever had the privilege to read, I’d have surely been the better, for what we consume becomes the image etched in the mirror.
“The reason why the world lacks unity, and lies broken and in heaps, is, because man is disunited with himself.”
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
“The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.”
And, for its simultaneous simplicity and profoundness, my favorite of all:
“The earth laughs in flowers.”
Curtis C. Greco, Founder
