A quote that spontaneously made me burst into tears
… and that I subsequently found was misquoted and erroneously attributed. Here’s the “original” snippet of the quote that I read today:
… To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
The attribution I saw at first was Ralph Waldo Emerson, but a little digging around lead to a page that showed that most likely, the originator was a woman named Bessie A. Stanley and that the tone of the full, misquoted poem doesn’t sound like Emerson’s work.
Either way, I really enjoyed that line, regardless of who it was from. It really solidifies my core philosophy in life. I know it’s not an original thought, but it is what is important to me.
In addition, in searching for the source of the quote, I hit a page of quotes by Emerson. I might pick up a book of his poems.