Something Left Unsaid

"The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one."

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Friendship"

"The only way to be happy is to be happy. The only way to feel good about who you are is to feel good about who you are."

-- Rob Eichberg, Coming Out: An Act of Love

I came across these quotations within days of each other. The first was in Bartlett's, though I've heard it before. (I've had friendship on my mind lately.) The second was in a tiny black-and-red book -- about three by four inches -- where for much of my twenties and thirties I used to write down memorable passages from books, stories, articles, and things I'd heard people say. I recorded that quote about sixteen years ago, when I was coming out of the closet and reading the book by Rob Eichberg (one of the founders of National Coming Out Day).

It's funny that those two quotes, so similar in structure, should jump out at me within the span of a couple of days. I like them both. I've been looking for an inspiring quote -- okay, call it an affirmation if you want to, dammit; I could use an affirmation! -- about believing in oneself. Haven't found it yet. Suggestions welcome.

As for my tiny black-and-red book, it's probably a couple of hundred pages long and is just about halfway filled. I haven't made an entry in it in years -- not since the mid-1990s, I would guess. Here's the last quote I wrote in it, from The Practice of Poetry: Writing Exercises from Poets Who Teach by Robin Behn and Chase Twichell:

"Dreams have a way of leaving things out . . . reminding us of the power of whatever's missing: the image expected but withheld, the pervading presence of something left unsaid."