Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in 1803, in Boston. His original profession was as a Unitarian minister but he left the ministry to pursue a career in writing and public speaking.
He went on to became one of America's best known and best loved 19th century figures. He was mentor to another great American writer and poet Henry David Thoreau.
He lived most of his life in Concord where he died in 1882.
There is a huge amount of material about him on the web.
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.
In excited conversation we have glimpses of the universe, hints of power native to the soul, far-darting lights and shadows of an Andes landscape, such as we can hardly attain in lone meditation.
Here are oracles sometimes profusely given, to which the memory goes back in barren hours.
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.
If you are interested in Knowledge Management, the
Knowledge Café
or the role of conversation in organizational life then you my be interested in this online book I am writing on
Conversational Leadership
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