-Ralph Waldo Emerson
the "Train of Thought" on my L train ride this morning
salt of the earth
: a dependable, steadfast, unpretentious person
: a person or group of people regarded as the finest of their kind or the noblest part of society
: people who are humble, generous, humane; people who give life its savour and thereby preserve our civilization
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?”