That which befits us, embosomed in beauty and wonder as we are, is cheerfulness, and courage, and the endeavor to realize our… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
What a man does, that he has. What has he to do with hope or fear? In himself is his might. Let… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
But there is no end to the praise of books, to the value of the library. Who shall estimate their influence on… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
We may like well to know what is Plato’s and what is Montesquieu’s or Goethe’s part, and what thought was always dear… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud. I am arrived at last… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Daughter of heaven and earth, coy Spring, With sudden passion languishing, Teaching barren moors to smile, Painting pictures mile on mile, Holds… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Ever the words of the gods resound; But the porches of man's ear seldom in this low life's round are unsealed, that… — 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 measure of action is the sentiment from which it proceeds. The greatest action may easily be one of the most private… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Motion or change, and identity or rest, are the first and second secrets of nature: Motion and Rest. The whole code of… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
The use of literature is to afford us a platform whence we may command a view of our present life, a purchase… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Thought is the seed of action; but action is as much its second form as thought is its first. It rises in… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
The world is a divine dream, from which we may presently awake to the glories and certainties of day. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Nature is a language and every new fact one learns is a new word; but it is not a language taken to… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
For splendor, there must somewhere be rigid economy. That the head of the house may go brave, the members must be plainly… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Milton says, that the lyric poet may drink wine and live generously, but the epic poet, he who shall sing of the… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
A just thinker will allow full swing to his scepticism. I dip my pen in the blackest ink, because I am not… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
When God lets loose a great thinker on this planet, then all things are at risk. There is not a piece of… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Washington, where an insignificant individual may trespass on a nation's time. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
The law of nature is alternation for evermore. Each electrical state superinduces the opposite. The soul environs itself with friends, that it… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
He who has acquired the ability, may wait securely the occasion of making it felt and appreciated, and know that it will… — 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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
“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 Image
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 Image
A child reminds us that playtime is an essential part of our daily routine. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
No man can be criticised but by a greater than he. Do not, then, read the reviews. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
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 Image
