Emerson is quietly overturning our usual notion that strength comes from having more—more resources, more options, more abilities spread across many pursuits. He's saying that power itself emerges from the act of focusing, that diffusion is the real weakness. A writer staring at a blank page discovers this truth: ten half-finished projects teach you nothing, but one sustained effort, even modestly talented, builds genuine capability. The strength isn't in what you have; it's in where you point it.