4.1 What Is Success? by Ralph Emerson Standard 9th English Poem

What  Is  Success?  

by  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson

Meaning and explanation Poem

What is success ?

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people

and the affection of children;

Understanding the Text: Though success is known to everyone, it is a thing to it is difficult to explain. The meaning or definition of success can vary from person to person and from different ambitions and attitudes. 

For example-  For people like Alexander the great, success is to win the world. On the other hand, people like Baba Amate and Prakash Amate leave all comforts of life to help the needy and downtrodden people, that is their success.

The poet asks the question in the beginning that what the success is.

He himself answers it in a nice way that success can be gained from the little things by being happy all the time whatever may be the situations (maybe happiness or sadness) and trying to make the others happy by their presence.

 The poet just tries to tell that it is important or valuable to get respect from the learned or intelligent people, which needs real wisdom and firmness. On the other hand, we must get pleasure among the children and to be a lovable person.

   

To earn the appreciation of honest critics

and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty;

To find the best in others;

The negative attitude is there everywhere around us. The critics would do their work of getting your faults and give bits of advice to correct it. But how nice it will be to get appreciation from the true critics. We need the highest quality of our work and the highest quality of thinking. That was about the great intellect but what about the great mind, the poet says that it needs a brave heart to tolerate and accept the betrayal or cheating done by our close ones like our friend or may our relatives. The poet wants to tell that it may be easy to fight against the enemy because we expect these things from him but how about the people whom we trust a lot.

The success is no great thing but to find the good, better and the best in others and appreciate them. To find beauty in almost everything. Sometimes it may not be up to our satisfaction but we must encourage others. And should try to bring out the best form them.

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.

As we are born as a human we must always try to contribute to the betterment of the world. It may be a very little contribution without any expectation we should. It can the work to build the future generations stronger and sharper, or maybe the work to conserve the nature or it can be the work related to social work to help to develop and uplift the downtrodden.

Helping others and making their life a bit easier can give us a feeling of success, and that is the real success.

Success is not always doing great and big things but doing many common and routine things nicely.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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