Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882

US essayist & poet; wrote "The Conduct of Life" 1860, "Society and Solitude" 1870, "Letters and Social Aims" 1876 _

As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson  American writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Each man takes care that his neighbor shall not cheat him. But a day comes when he begins to care that he does not cheat his neighbor. Then all goes well -- he has changed his market-cart into a chariot of the sun. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain.-Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882, American Poet, Essayist)

No man has a prosperity so high or firm, but that two or three words can dishearten it; and there is no calamity which right words will not begin to redress. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

The days come and go like muffled and veiled figures sent from a distant friendly party, but they say nothing, and if we do not use the gifts they bring, they carry them as silently away. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Other men are lenses through which we read our own minds. -Ralph Waldo Emerson , writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

We boil at different degrees. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Every man supposes himself not to be fully understood or appreciated. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

No man has a prosperity so high or firm, but that two or three words can dishearten it; and there is no calamity which right words will not begin to redress. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, American writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Traveling is a fool's paradise... I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea and at last wake up in Naples, and there besides me is the stern fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, philosopher and writer (1803-1882)

Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage

The true test of a civilization is, not the census, nor the size of the cities, nor the crops - no, but the kind of man the country turns out. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist (1803-1882)

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

All great masters are chiefly distinguished by the power of adding a second, a third, and perhaps a fourth step in a continuous line. Many a man had taken the first step. With every additional step you enhance immensely the value of your first. -Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

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

The secret of education is respecting the pupil. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Shall I tell you the secret of the true scholar? It is this: every man I meet is my master in some point, and in that I learn of him. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Money often costs too much. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Go often to the house of thy friend, for weeds choke the unused path. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, American writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, American writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

He then learns that in going down into the secrets of his own mind he has descended into the secrets of all minds. -Emerson

It is not length of life, but depth of life. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

There never was child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him asleep. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

'Tis very certain that each man carries in his eye the exact indication of his rank in the immense scale of men, and we are always learning to read it. A complete man should need no auxiliaries to his personal presence. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, American writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion, it is easy in solitude to live after your own; but the great man is he who, in the midst of the world, keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, American writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, American writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

The only gift is a portion of thyself. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen. - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

If you would lift me up you must be on higher ground. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

When it is dark enough, you can see the stars. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons. -Ralph Waldo Emerson [The Conduct of Life]

The best effect of fine persons is felt after we have left their presence. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Hitch your wagon to a star. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

The greatest homage to truth is to use it. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

I do not hesitate to read ... all good books in translations. What is really best in any book is translatable --any real insight or broad human sentiment. -Ralph Waldo Emerson [Society and Solitude]

If you put a chain around the neck of a slave, the other end fastens itself around your own. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

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. -Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) [Society and Solitude, 1870]

Wit makes its own welcome, and levels all distinctions. No dignity, no learning, no force of character, can make any stand against good wit. -Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)
 

What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882) also What you are thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. - Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance

If a man have a genius for painting, poetry, music, architecture, or philosophy, he makes a bad husband, and an ill provider. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Men succeed when they realize that their failures are the preparation for their victories. - Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882, American Poet, Essayist

Nature magically suits a man to his fortunes, by making them the fruit of his character. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

A nation, like a tree, does not thrive well till it is engrafted with a foreign stock. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

We love flattery, even though we are not deceived by it, because it shows that we are of importance enough to be courted. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

There is also this benefit in brag, that the speaker is unconsciously expressing his own ideal. Humor him by all means, draw it all out, and hold him to it. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

We aim above the mark to hit the mark. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Earth laughs in flowers. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Great geniuses have the shortest biographies. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

God builds his temple in the heart on the ruins of churches and religions.-Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could;
Some blunders and absurdities crept in;
Forget them as soon as you can.
Tomorrow is a new day;
You shall begin it serenely and
With too high a spirit to be encumbered
With your old nonsense.
Emerson

Definition of Success

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 bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

I hate quotations. -Ralph Waldo Emerson