“ Inaction is cowardice, but there can be no scholar without the heroic mind. ”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American Scholar (1838). copy citation
| Author | Ralph Waldo Emerson |
|---|---|
| Source | The American Scholar |
| Topic | cowardice inaction |
| Date | 1838 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_American_Scholar |
Context
“Action is with the scholar subordinate, but it is essential. Without it, he is not yet man.Without it, thought can never ripen into truth. Whilst the world hangs before the eye as a cloud of beauty, we cannot even see its beauty. Inaction is cowardice, but there can be no scholar without the heroic mind. The preamble of thought, the transition through which it passes from the unconscious to the conscious, is action. Only so much do I know, as I have lived. Instantly we know whose words are loaded with life, and whose not.”
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