Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) explained the law of compensation in very clear terms: “For everything you have missed, you have gained something else; and for everything you gain, you lose something else.” In his journal dated January 8, 1826, he also wrote, “The whole of what we know is a system of compensations. Every defect in one manner is made up in another. Every suffering is rewarded; every sacrifice is made up; every debt is paid.”
