Yet a man may love a paradox, without losing either his wit or his honesty. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Sanity is very rare; every man almost and every woman has a dash of madness. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
The sign and credentials of the poet are that he announces that which no man foretold — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
The religions of the world are the ejaculations of a few imaginative men. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Man exists for his own sake and not to add a laborer to the State. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
The perception of the comic is a tie of sympathy with other men. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
The great man, that is, the man most imbued with the spirit of the time, is the impressionable man. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Not in nature but in man is all the beauty and worth he sees. The world is very empty, and is indebted… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
A sect or party is an elegant incognito devised to save a man from the vexation of thinking. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Nature is a frugal mother, and never gives without measure. When she has work to do, she qualifies men for that and… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
What school, college, or lecture bring men depends on what men bring to carry it home in. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Life is comic or pitiful as soon as the high ends of being fade out of sight, and man becomes near-sighted, and… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
What is the city in which we sit here, but an aggregate of incongruous materials, which have obeyed the will of some… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
But a public oration is an escapade, a non-committal, an apology, a gag, and not a communication, not a speech, not a… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
The characteristic of genuine heroism is its persistency. All men have wandering impulses, fits and starts of generosity. But when you have… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
And last of all, high over thought, in the world of morals, Fate appears as vindicator, levelling the high, lifting the low,… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
He cumbers himself never about consequences, about interests; he gives an independent, genuine verdict. You must court him: he does not court… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Nature never rhymes her children, nor makes two men alike. When we see a great man, we fancy a resemblance to some… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
To be rich is to have a ticket of admission to the masterworks and chief men of each race. It is to… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
To help the young soul, to add energy, inspire hope, and blow the coals into a useful flame; to redeem defeat by… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
There is a persuasion in the soul of man that he is here for cause, that he was put down in this… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
A man must know how to estimate a sour face. The sour face of the multitude, like thier sweet faces, have no… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
The spirit only can teach. Not any profane man, not any sensual, not any liar, not any slave can teach, but only… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
The state of society is one in which the members have suffered amputation from the trunk, and strut about so many walking… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
The scholar was not raised by the sacred thoughts amongst which he dwelt, but used them to selfish ends. He was a… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
“The soul is no traveller; the wise man stays at home, and when his necessities, his duties, on any occasion call him… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
For all our penny-wisdom, for all our soul-destroying slavery to habit, it is not to be doubted that all men have sublime… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
You think that your silence on certain topics, perhaps in the face of injustice, or unkindness, or mean-spiritedness, causes others to reserve… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
Prayer that craves a particular commodity—anything less than all good, is vicious. Prayer is the contemplation of the facts of life from… — Ralph Waldo Emerson Copy Share Image
In nature, all is useful, all is beautiful. It is therefore beautiful, because it is alive, moving, reproductive; it is thereforeuseful, because… — 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
