In middle school I used to roll my scooter through the American Embassy School campus in New Delhi at night. There was a big garden with a winding ramp and I'd go whooshing down from my mom's classroom back to our apartment at night. I decided that Orion's belt was my favorite constellation, even though it was the only one I could make out in the smoggy sky.
Sometimes I stopped by the sundial to read the poem on the side. It was only about three and a half feet tall. It was this:
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
I was 13 at the time. I liked the part about winning the affection of children, and making one life breathe easier. I wondered what that entailed.
Sometimes I stopped by the sundial to read the poem on the side. It was only about three and a half feet tall. It was this:
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
I was 13 at the time. I liked the part about winning the affection of children, and making one life breathe easier. I wondered what that entailed.
