Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Quotes

• If I have lost confidence in myself, I have the universe against me.

• I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea, and at last wake up in Naples, and there beside me is the Stern Fact, the Sad Self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from.

• Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.

• Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.

• To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch of a redeemed social condition; to know that one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success.

• The greatest gift is a portion of thyself.

• For nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure.

• A man's library is a sort of harem.

• The teaching of politics is that the Government, which was set for protection and comfort of all good citizens, becomes the principal obstruction and nuisance with which we have to contend… The cheat and bully and malefactor we meet everywhere is the Government.

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

• All men are in some degree impressed by the face of the world; some men even to delight. This love of beauty is taste. Others have the same love in such success that, not content with admiring, they seek to embody it in new forms. The creation of beauty is art.

• Men are conservatives when they are least vigorous, or when they are most luxurious. They are conservatives after dinner.

• This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.

• None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.

• As we grow old…the beauty steals inward.

• Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones.

• The first wealth is health.

• A friend is one before whom I may think aloud.

• All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.

• Character is higher than intellect... A great soul will be strong to live, as well as to think.