 |
(no category)
|
|
The key to every man is his thought. He can only be reformed by showing him a new idea which commands his own.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
|
O friend, never strike sail to a fear! Come into port greatly, or sail with God the seas.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
|
Europe extends to the Alleghenies; America lies beyond.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
|
Is not every man sometimes a radical in politics? Men are conservatives when they are least vigorous, or when they are most luxurious. They are conservatives after dinner, or before taking their rest; when they are sick, or aged. In the morning, or when their intellect or their conscience has been aroused; when they hear music, or when they read poetry, they are radicals.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
|
Of all debts men are least willing to pay the taxes. What a satire is this on government! Everywhere they think they get their moneys worth, except for these.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
|
Englands genius filled all measureOf heart and soul, of strength and pleasure,Gave to the mind its emperor,And life was larger than before:Nor sequent centuries could hitOrbit and sum of Shakespeares wit. The men who lived with him becamePoets, for the air was fame.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
|
Mr. Emerson visited Thoreau at the jail, and the meeting between the two philosophers must have been interesting and somewhat dramatic. The account of the meeting was told me by Miss Maria Thoreau Henry Thoreaus auntHenry, why are you here? Waldo, why are you not here?
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
|
The two parties which divide the state, the party of Conservatism and that of Innovation, are very old, and have disputed the possession of the world ever since it was made.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
|
Not gold but only men can makeA people great and strong;Men who for truth and honors sakeStand fast and suffer long. Brave men who work while others sleep,Who dare while others flyThey build a nations pillars deepAnd lift them to the sky.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
|
What is life but the angle of vision? A man is measured by the angle at which he looks at objects. What is life but what a man is thinking of all day? This is his fate and his employer. Knowing is the measure of the man. By how much we know, so much we are.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
|
Republics abound in young civilians who believe that the laws make the city, that grave modifications of the policy and modes of living and employments of the population, that commerce, education and religion may be voted in or out; and that any measure, though it were absurd, may be imposed on a people if only you can get sufficient voices to make it a law. But the wise know that foolish legislation is a rope of sand which perishes in the twisting; that the State must follow and not lead the character and progress of the citizen; that the form of government which prevails is the expression of what cultivation exists in the population which permits it. The law is only a memorandum.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
Ability
|
|
|
Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson, attributed, no source
|
|
|
People with great gifts are easy to find, but symmetrical and balanced ones never.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
Acceptance
|
|
|
Accept your genius and say what you think.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson, attributed, no source
|
|
|
People only see what they are prepared to see.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson, attributed, no source
|
|
|
Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
Action(s)
|
|
|
Our spontaneous action is always the best. You cannot, with your best deliberation and heed, come so close to any question as your spontaneous glance shall bring you.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
|
There is a tendency for things to right themselves.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
|
Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
|
Act, if you like, but you do it at your peril. Men's actions are too strong for them. Show me a man who has acted and who has not been the victim and slave of his action.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
|
The German intellect wants the French sprightliness, the fine practical understanding of the English, and the American adventure; but it has a certain probity, which never rests in a superficial performance, but asks steadily, To what end? A German public asks for a controlling sincerity.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
|
Let us, if we must have great actions, make our own so. All action is of infinite elasticity, and the least admits of being inflated with celestial air, until it eclipses the sun and moon.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
|
Men's actions are too strong for them. Show me a man who has acted, and who has not been the victim and slave of his action.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
|
The ancestor of every action is thought.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
|
We are taught by great actions that the universe is the property of every individual in it.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
Books by and about Ralph Waldo Emerson