A tiny orange marble sits beside a much larger reflective silver sphere on a blue-grey surface.

Original artwork, not a still

Ralph Waldo Emerson

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker claims that both past and future are minor compared with a person's inner resources. Circumstances behind and ahead can loom large, yet character, resolve and spirit matter far more. The thought shifts attention from external fortune to what one carries inside.

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