Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes and Sayings


Ralph Waldo Emerson US essayist & poet (1803 - 1882)

Truth is beautiful, without doubt; but so are lies. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Every artist was first an amateur. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in, forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day, you shall begin it well and serenely... ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ideas must work through the brains and arms of men, or they are no better than dreams. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Our chief want in life is somebody who shall make us do what we can. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life is a perpetual instruction in cause and effect. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

We aim above the mark to hit the mark. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experience. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

In the highest civilization, the book is still the highest delight. He who has once known its satisfactions is provided with a resource against calamity. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Make yourself necessary to somebody. Do not make life hard to any. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we all quote. In fact, it is as difficult to appropriate the thoughts of others as it is to invent. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Children are all foreigners. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The only way to have a friend is to be one. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The world belongs to the energetic. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

So of cheerfulness, or a good temper, the more it is spent, the more it remains. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

A friend might well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

My evening visitors, if they cannot see the clock, should find the time in my face. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Here is the world, sound as a nut, perfect, not the smallest piece of chaos left, never a stitch nor an end, not a mark of haste, or botching, or second thought; but the theory of the world is a thing of shreds and patches. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I hate quotations. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

People only see what they are prepared to see. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hitch your wagon to a star. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Give all to love; obey thy heart. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Every hero becomes a bore at last. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The reward of a thing well done is to have done it. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The ancestor of every action is a thought. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sometimes a scream is better than a thesis. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I hate quotations. Tell me what you know. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

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

That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task itself has become easier, but that our ability to perform it has improved. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Work and acquire, and thou hast chained the wheel of Chance. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

When you strike at a king, you must kill him. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nature magically suits a man to his fortunes, by making them the fruit of his character. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Every sweet has its sour; every evil its good. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The best effect of fine persons is felt after we have left their presence. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

There is no den in the wide world to hide a rogue. Commit a crime and the earth is made of glass. Commit a crime, and it seems as if a coat of snow fell on the ground, such as reveals in the woods the track of every partridge, and fox, and squirrel. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson