My Experiments in the Practice of Everyday Life

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March 13, 2010
9 Comment

“In the Long Run, Men Hit Only What They Aim At.”

Thoreau

“In the long run men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, though they should fail immediately, they had better aim at something high.”
– Henry David Thoreau

* I’m excited because this afternoon, I get to meet some of the members of the fantastic

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  • http://www.ridiculouslyextraordinary.com KarolGajda

    This is good. It reminds me of “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” which I believe is attributed to Wayne Gretzky.

  • SB

    I LOVE this quote. It is exactly what I needed now. I was rejected from a job this week that I had applied for and have been having a hard time accepting it, going round and round in circles in my mind questioning the unanticipated outcome. This quote will help remind me of what lays ahead – better and bigger things. Thank you!

  • http://enlightr.com/ Craig Thomas

    Very nice quote. Definitely true.

  • SueMB

    It seems this is a widely held idea.
    Robert Browning wrote, “A man’s (sic) reach must exceed his grasp or what’s a heaven for?” (I assume women can be included in this idea.)

  • http://recent.cityintherain.com/ Rachel

    I’d like to respectfully disagree. This is one of those quotes that SOUNDS great and has a good ring to it; however, goals can be self-limiting if they’re all you’re thinking about, and often one thing leads to another so that I blow right past some goals I’ve set.

    Example: Gretchen having a goal of starting a blog, and winding up as a popular blogger and a speaker at SXSW. :-)

    • gretchenrubin

      This is an excellent point! Absolutely!

      Another example of “The opposite of a great truth is also true.”

      Sometimes, setting a small goal is what frees us to try something at all –
      when a big goal would be too intimidating.

  • http://www.thecupcakecountdown.blogspot.com/ Sheri

    I love this quote…and many of the other quotes from your book, which I read with pen in hand! It really made me think, and I appreciate the thoroughness with which you explored the subject of happiness and your project. Thanks for doing the work for me…I plan to use your efforts to my benefit! :)

    • gretchenrubin

      Wonderful! Good luck with YOUR happiness project!

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