Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Quotes

• A man builds a fine house; and now he has a master, and a task for life; he is to furnish, watch, show it, and keep it in repair, the rest of his days.

• Wit makes its own welcome, and levels all distinctions. No dignity, no learning, no force of character, can make any stand against good wit.

• Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great.

• The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.

• That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task itself has become easier, but that our ability to perform it has improved.

• The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.

• What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

• A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.

• Nature magically suits a man to his fortunes, by making them the fruit of his character.

• The world belongs to the energetic.

• Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.

• What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.

• Make yourself necessary to somebody. Do not make life hard to any.

• There is no den in the wide world to hide a rogue. Commit a crime and the earth is made of glass. Commit a crime, and it seems as if a coat of snow fell on the ground, such as reveals in the woods the track of every partridge, and fox, and squirrel.

• Don't waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good.

• Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.

• Work and acquire, and thou hast chained the wheel of Chance.

• Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.

• Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.

• When you strike at a king, you must kill him.