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'I saw a moving sight the other morning before breakfast in a little hotel where I slept in the dusty fields.The young man of the house shot a little wolf called coyote in the early morning. The little heroic animal lay on the ground, with his big furry ears, and his clean white teeth, and his little cheerful body, but his little brave life was gone.It made me think how brave all living things are. Here little coyote was, without any clothes or house or books or anything, with nothing to pay his way with, and risking his life so cheerfully- and losing it- just to see if he could pick up a meal near the hotel. He was doing his coyote-business like a hero, and you must do your boy-business, and I my man-business bravely, too, or else we won't be worth as much as a little coyote.'

William James#123

LifeNatureCourageHeroismSurvival

About this quote

What does it mean?
All living things display bravery in survival, inspiring humans to do the same.
In plain terms
Even small animals try hard to live, so we should too.
What can you take from it?
Emulate the courage of all living beings.

Where it applies

  • facing hardship
  • finding motivation

Putting it to work

  • face challenges bravely
  • value life's efforts

Questions to consider

  • What is your business to do?
  • How brave are you?

Another view

It romanticizes the struggle for survival.

More from William James

  1. The moral flabbiness born of the exclusive worship of the bitch-goddess SUCCESS. That - with the squalid cash interpretation put on the word success - is our n…

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  2. The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.

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  3. Most people live, whether physically, intellectually or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of…

    Permalink to quote #121

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