A part of fate is the freedom of man. Forever wells up the impulse of choosing and acting in his soul. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
In the woods too, a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at what period soever of life,… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Wise men read very sharply all of your private history in your look and gait and behavior. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Man was born to be rich, or to inevitably grow rich, by the use of his faculties: by the union of thought… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Vanity costs money, labor, horses, men, women, health and peace, and is still nothing at last,--a long way leading nowhere. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
There is nothing but is related to us, nothing that does not interest us,--kingdom, college, tree, horse, or iron show,--the rootsof all… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
The man, who has seen the rising moon break out of the clouds at midnight, has been present like an archangel at… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
“When private men shall act with original views, the lustre will be transferred from the actions of kings to those of gentlemen.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
And in cases where profound conviction has been wrought, the eloquent man is he who is no beautiful speaker, but who is… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
But wise men pierce this rotten diction and fasten words again to visible things; so that picturesque language is at once a… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Let me admonish you, first of all, to go alone; to refuse the good models, even those which are sacred in the… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
The intellectual man requires a fine bait; the sots are easily amused. But everybody is drugged with his own frenzy, and the… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Let a stoic open the resources of man, and tell men they are not leaning willows, but can and must detach themselves;… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Man is made of the same atoms the world is, he shares the same impressions, predispositions, and destiny. When his mind is… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
I now require this of all pictures, that they domesticate me, not that they dazzle me. Pictures must not be too picturesque.… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
To educate the wise man, the State exists; and with the appearance of the wise man, the State expires. The appearance of… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
There are men whose language is strong and defying enough, yet their eyes and their actions ask leave of other men to… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
“Nature always wears the colors of the spirit. To a man laboring under calamity, the heat of his own fire hath sadness… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Every man is actually weak, and apparently strong. To himself, he seems weak; to others, formidable. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Nature never wears a mean appearance. Neither does the wisest man extort her secret, and lose his curiosity by finding out all… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
The Good Spirit never cared for the colleges, and though all men and boys were now drilled in Greek, Latin, and Mathematics,… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
The Roman rule was, to teach a boy nothing that he could not learn standing. The old English rule was, "All summer… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
When its errands are noble and adequate, a steamboat bridging the Atlantic between Old and New England, and arriving at its ports… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
The greatest delight the fields and woods minister is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and the vegetable. I am… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Life is girt all round with a zodiac of sciences, the contributions of men who have perished to add their point of… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
History no longer shall be a dull book. It shall walk incarnate in every just and wise man. You shall not tell… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
To the body and mind which have been cramped by noxious work or company, nature is medicinal and restores their tone. The… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Every man has a choice between love of truth and love of repose. Love of repose brings him a solid reputation and… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
I am primarily engaged to myself to be a public servant of all the gods, to demonstrate to all men that there… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
To give money to a sufferer is only a come-off. It is only a postponement of the real payment, a bribe paid… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Wise men read very sharply all your private history in your look and gait and behavior. The whole economy of nature is… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Men are conservatives when they are least vigorous, or when they are most luxurious. They are conservatives after dinner, or before taking… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society. I am not solitary whilst… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
I think the vice of our housekeeping is that it does not hold man sacred. The vice of government, the vice of… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
A man complained that on his way home to dinner he had every day to pass through that long field of his… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Let us stun and astonish the intruding rabble of men and books and institutions by a simple declaration of the divine fact.… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Man is a shrewd inventor, and is ever taking the hint of a new machine from his own structure, adapting some secret… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Plants are the young of the world, vessels of health and vigor; but they grope ever upward towards consciousness; the trees are… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Cities force growth and make men talkative and entertaining, but they make them artificial. What possesses interest for us is thenatural of… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Beside all the moral benefit which we may expect from the farmer's profession, when a man enters it considerately, this promised the… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share
If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share
If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share
A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share
Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share
“There is then creative reading as well as creative writing. When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share
Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share
A child reminds us that playtime is an essential part of our daily routine. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share
No man can be criticised but by a greater than he. Do not, then, read the reviews. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share
Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share
In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends, but they are imprisoned by an enchanter in these paper and leathern… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share
The compensations of calamity are made apparent to the understanding also, after long intervals of time. A fever, a mutilation, a cruel disappointment, a… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share