Thefts never enrich; alms never impoverish; murder will speak out of stone walls. The least admixture of a lie-for example, the taint… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Go face the fire at sea, or the cholera in your friend's house, or the burglar in your own, or what danger… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil. It is not for you to choose what he shall know, what he… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Beside all the small reasons we assign, there is a great reason for the existence of every extant fact; a reason which… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
“The world -- this shadow of the soul, or other me, lies wide around. Its attractions are the keys which unlock my… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
I hate to be defended in a newspaper. As long as all that is said is said against me, I feel a… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
A more secret, sweet, and overpowering beauty appears to man when his heart and mind open to the sentiment of virtue. Then… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
The world is his who can see through its pretension. What deafness, what stone-blind custom, what overgrown error you behold, is there… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
...most men have bound their eyes with one or another handkerchief, and attached themselves to some one of these communities of opinion.… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Society is an illusion to the young citizen. It lies before him in rigid repose, with certain names, men, and institutions, rootedlike… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
“There is some awe mixed with the joy of our surprise, when this poet, who lived in some past world, two or… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Natural science sharpens the discrimination. There is no false logic in nature. All its properties are permanent: the acids and metals never… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
The possibility of interpretation lies in the identity of the observer with the observed. Each material thing has its celestial side; has… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
What is man born for but to be a Reformer, a Remaker of what man has made? A renouncer of lies; a… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Look sharply after your own thoughts. They come unlooked for, like a new bird seen on your trees, and, if you turn… — 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
