"But a compassion for that which is..." - Quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson
But a compassion for that which is not and cannot be useful and lovely, is degrading and futile.
More by Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Every actual State is corrupt. Good men must not obey the laws too well.”
“The German intellect wants the French sprightliness, the fine practical understanding of the English, and the American adventure; but it has a certain probity, which never rests in a superficial performance, but asks steadily, To what end? A German public asks for a controlling sincerity.”
“Real men don't conform to the beliefs of others, even when society has concluded on what is good and true, but maintain the integrity of their own mind.”
More on Compassion
“Compassion is a mental quality that can bring us true lasting inner peace and inner strength.”
“My dear heart, never think you are better than others. Listen to their sorrows with compassion. If you want peace, don't harbor bad thoughts, do not gossip and don't teach what you do not know.”
“When you see around you the human form suffering or dissolving, you have empathy on the human level. You share the suffering because it has to do with the fleetingness of form. But if that is the only level that operates in you, you haven't gone beyond suffering.”
More on Utility
“I believe that there never was a creator of a philosophical system who did not confess at the end of his life that he had wasted his time. It must be admitted that the inventors of the mechanical arts have been much more useful to men that the inventors of syllogisms. He who imagined a ship towers considerably above him who imagined innate ideas.”
“And can anything else that is useful be accomplished without change? Do you not see then that for yourself also to change is just the same, and equally necessary for the universal nature?”
“What is fruitful alone is true.”