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Remember the parable of talents—the story of the three servants who had received talents, five, two and one respectively? When their master returned they all gave account of their stewardship. The first two had doubled their capital. Each of them said so in sixteen words and their work was pronounced, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.' The third servant had accomplished absolutely nothing but his report took forty-three words, three times as long as each of the other two reports. Don’t be like servant number three. Make good! Don’t explain your failure! Do the thing you are expected to do! Then you won’t have to explain why you didn't, couldn’t, wouldn’t, or shouldn’t. Efficiency! That is the soul-satisfying joy of making good. Doing your work just a little better than anyone else gives you the margin of success. Making good required no explanation. Failure required forty-three words.

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Oct 22, 2025

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Quote Author: Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 - April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early 19th century.

Emerson gradually drifted from the religious and social doctrines of his peers, formulating and expressing the philosophy of Transcendentalism in his 1836 essay, Nature . As a result of this ground breaking work he gave a speech entitled The American Scholar in 1837, which is considered to be America's "Intellectual Declaration of Independence." He once said "Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you."

Considered one of the great orators of the time, Emerson's enthusiasm and respect for his audience enraptured crowds. His support for abolitionism late in life created controversy, and he was subject to abuse from crowds while speaking on the topic. When asked to sum up his work, he said his central doctrine was "the infinitude of the private man."

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