I just finished reading a Newsweek article about Senator Ted Kennedy in which an interviewer asked about his aspirations for the Presidency. Kennedy responded that he was happy in the Senate, explaining his ambitions in a paraphrase of poet Robert Browning: "If one's reach does not exceed one's grasp then what is heaven for?"
Browning wrote: "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?"
There is wisdom in both versions. Kennedy concentrates on the end result counseling not to waste time striving for what you can't have, while Browning focuses on process wherein happiness lies in the striving, highlighting the difference between a politician and a poet--the politician intent on achievements, the poet content to write.
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