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This made me think of Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem "What is success": To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty; To find the best in others; To give of one's self; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived - This is to have succeeded.

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beryilma|1 year ago

When I was a college student some 30 years ago, this poem was in my physics textbook. I made a hand-written copy of it to carry in my wallet because I loved it so much. I always thought that the book's author wrote it. This brought back the same feelings I had then after reading the poem. Thanks...

netsharc|1 year ago

> To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition

Damn, that reminds me of the last part of the movie Living... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2L8CP31-14

first_log|1 year ago

Unfortunately not by Emerson. https://avidly.lareviewofbooks.org/2019/08/27/on-fake-emerso...

taco-hands|1 year ago

Thanks. Interesting... I had always thought it was written by Emerson having had it in printed form for more than 20 years. It appears as though it was misattributed by others originally too it seems.

To your point - that doesn't seem to contain the original version either! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Anderson_Stanley list the supposed original by Stanley) It must have been both misattributed and toyed with over the years many times as you can find numerous altered versions of it widely since (usually for an Etsy print, posters, you name it)