While we often recommend Letters of Note for the hits of history’s most illuminating pieces of incidental correspondence, do consider also making a regular visits to Slate’s history blog The Vault. There you’ll find such written artifacts as the one pictured in part above, astutely written up by occasional Open Culture contributor Rebecca Onion: “In 1863, as he considered seeking a government clerkship, Walt Whitman asked his friend and advocate Ralph Waldo Emerson for a letter of recommendation. Emerson, for decades a respected name in American letters, knew the secretaries of state and treasury personally, and Whitman hoped that a note from him would help the younger poet secure steady employment in Washington.” This note runs, in a transcript from the Walt Whitman archive, as follows:
Concord Massachusetts
10 January 2, 1863
Dear Sir,
Mr Walt Whitman, of New York, writes me that he is seeking employment in the public service in Washington, & perhaps some application on his part has already been made to yourself. Will you permit me to say that he is known to me as a man of strong original genius, combining, with marked eccentricities, great powers & valuable traits of character: a self-relying large-hearted man, much beloved by his friends; entirely patriotic & benevolent in his theory, tastes, & practice. If his writings are in certain points open to criticism, they show extraordinary power, & are more deeply American, democratic, & in the interest of political liberty, than those of any other poet.
A man of his talents & dispositions will quickly make himself useful, and, if the government has work that he can do, I think it may easily find that it has called to its side more valuable aid than it bargained for.
With entire respect,
Your obedient servant,
R. W. Emerson.
Concord Massachusetts
10 January 2, 1863
Dear Sir,
Mr Walt Whitman, of New York, writes me that he is seeking employment in the public service in Washington, & perhaps some application on his part has already been made to yourself. Will you permit me to say that he is known to me as a man of strong original genius, combining, with marked eccentricities, great powers & valuable traits of character: a self-relying large-hearted man, much beloved by his friends; entirely patriotic & benevolent in his theory, tastes, & practice. If his writings are in certain points open to criticism, they show extraordinary power, & are more deeply American, democratic, & in the interest of political liberty, than those of any other poet.
A man of his talents & dispositions will quickly make himself useful, and, if the government has work that he can do, I think it may easily find that it has called to its side more valuable aid than it bargained for.
With entire respect,
Your obedient servant,
R. W. Emerson.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON QUOTES
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
American lecturer, poet, and essayist
The bitterest tragic element in life to be derived from an intellectual source is the belief in a brute Fate or Destiny.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Natural History of Intellect
Every reform was once a private opinion.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
I am not engaged to Christianity by decent forms, or saving ordinances; it is not usage, it is not what I do not understand, that binds me to it -- let these be the sandy foundations of falsehoods. What I revere and obey in it is its reality, its boundless charity, its deep interior life, the rest it gives to my mind, the echo it returns to my thoughts, the perfect accord it makes with my reason through all its representation of God and His Providence; and the persuasion and courage that come out thence to lead me upward and onward.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, sermon, Sept. 9, 1832
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
I hope in these days we have heard the last of conformity and consistency. Let the words be gazetted and ridiculous henceforward.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
Language is fossil poetry.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
An action is the perfection and publication of thought.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Nature
In a virtuous action, I properly am; in a virtuous act, I add to the world; I plant into deserts conquered from Chaos and Nothing, and see the darkness receding on the limits of the horizon.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Compensation," Essays
Every man alone is sincere. At the entrance of a second person, hypocrisy begins.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Friendship," Essays
Belief consists in accepting the affirmations of the soul; unbelief, in denying them. Some minds are incapable of skepticism.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Montaigne; or, the Skeptic," Representative Men
We boil at different degrees.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Society and Solitude
Nothing shall warp me from the belief that every man is a lover of truth. There is no pure lie, no pure malignity in nature. The entertainment of the proposition of depravity is the last profligacy and profanation. There is no scepticism, no atheism but that. Could it be received into common belief, suicide would unpeople the planet.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, lecture, Mar. 3, 1844
Power ceases in the instant of repose; it resides in the moment of transition from a past to a new state, in the shooting of the gulf, in the darting to an aim.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Self Reliance," Essays
Art is a jealous mistress.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Conduct of Life
Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Prudence," Essays
The angels are so enamored of the language that is spoken in heaven, that they will not distort their lips with the hissing and unmusical dialects of men, but speak their own, whether there be any who understand it or not.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Intellect," Essays
I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
When Nature has work to be done, she creates a genius to do it.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Method of Nature
You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Fate," Essays and Lectures
Flowers and fruits are always fit presents; flowers, because they are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all of the utilities of the world. These gay natures contrast with the somewhat stern countenance of ordinary nature: they are like music heard out of a work-house.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
The first wealth is health.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Power," The Conduct of Life
Hitch your wagon to a star.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Society and Solitude
Invention breeds invention.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Society and Solitude
We flee away from cities, but we bring The best of cities, these learned classifiers, Men knowing what they seek, armed eyes of experts. RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "The Adirondacs," May-Day and Other Pieces
Murder in the murderer is no such ruinous thought as poets and romancers will have it; it does not unsettle him, or fright him from his ordinary notice of trifles: it is an act quite easy to be contemplated, but in its sequel, it turns out to be a horrible jangle and confounding of all relations.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
As men's prayers are a disease of the will so are their creeds a disease of the intellect.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
Magic and all that is ascribed to it is a deep presentiment of the powers of science.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
Our life is not so much threatened as our perception. Ghostlike we glide through nature, and should not know our place again.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Experience," Essays
Next to the originator of a good sentence is the first quoter of it.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Letters and Social Aims
The sanity of society is a balance of a thousand insanities.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Nominalist and Realist," Essays
Slavery is no scholar, no improver; it does not love the whistle of the railroad; it does not love the newspaper, the mail-bag, a college, a book or a preacher who has the absurd whim of saying what he thinks; it does not increase the white population; it does not improve the soil; everything goes to decay.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, speech, Aug. 1, 1844
Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
We are always getting ready to live, but never living.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, journal, Apr. 13, 1834
All conservatives are such from personal defects. They have been effeminated by position or nature, born halt and blind, through luxury of their parents, and can only, like invalids, act on the defensive.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, The Conduct of Life
Self-trust is the first secret of success.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Success," Society and Solitude
In skating over thin ice, our safety is in our speed.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
London is the epitome of our times, and the Rome of to-day.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Conduct of Life
Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
'Tis the good reader that makes the good book.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Society and Solitude
A little integrity is better than any career.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, The Conduct of Life
Solitude, the safeguard of mediocrity, is to genius, the stern friend, the cold, obscure shelter where moult the wings which will bear it farther than suns and stars.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, The Conduct of Life
Democracy becomes a government of bullies tempered by editors.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
O birds, your perfect virtues bring, Your song, your forms, your rhythmic flight, Your manners for your heart’s delight, Nestle in hedge, or barn, or roof, Here weave your chamber weather-proof, Forgive our harms, and condescend To man, as to a lubber friend, And, generous, teach his awkward race Courage, and probity, and grace! RALPH WALDO EMERSON, May-Day and Other Pieces
Pay every debt as if God wrote the bill.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, fragment, May-Day and Other Pieces
Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Art
Friendship, like the immortality of the soul, is too good to be believed.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Friendship", Essays
Friendship should be surrounded with ceremonies and respects, and not crushed into corners. Friendship requires more time than poor busy men can usually command.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Behavior", The Conduct of Life
Commit a crime and the world 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 and mole.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Compensation," Essays
Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
Read more at http://www.notable-quotes.com/e/emerson_ralph_waldo.html#vkWJQ1BP1aEfHt36.99
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
American lecturer, poet, and essayist
The bitterest tragic element in life to be derived from an intellectual source is the belief in a brute Fate or Destiny.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Natural History of Intellect
Every reform was once a private opinion.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
I am not engaged to Christianity by decent forms, or saving ordinances; it is not usage, it is not what I do not understand, that binds me to it -- let these be the sandy foundations of falsehoods. What I revere and obey in it is its reality, its boundless charity, its deep interior life, the rest it gives to my mind, the echo it returns to my thoughts, the perfect accord it makes with my reason through all its representation of God and His Providence; and the persuasion and courage that come out thence to lead me upward and onward.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, sermon, Sept. 9, 1832
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
I hope in these days we have heard the last of conformity and consistency. Let the words be gazetted and ridiculous henceforward.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
Language is fossil poetry.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
An action is the perfection and publication of thought.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Nature
In a virtuous action, I properly am; in a virtuous act, I add to the world; I plant into deserts conquered from Chaos and Nothing, and see the darkness receding on the limits of the horizon.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Compensation," Essays
Every man alone is sincere. At the entrance of a second person, hypocrisy begins.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Friendship," Essays
Belief consists in accepting the affirmations of the soul; unbelief, in denying them. Some minds are incapable of skepticism.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Montaigne; or, the Skeptic," Representative Men
We boil at different degrees.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Society and Solitude
Nothing shall warp me from the belief that every man is a lover of truth. There is no pure lie, no pure malignity in nature. The entertainment of the proposition of depravity is the last profligacy and profanation. There is no scepticism, no atheism but that. Could it be received into common belief, suicide would unpeople the planet.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, lecture, Mar. 3, 1844
Power ceases in the instant of repose; it resides in the moment of transition from a past to a new state, in the shooting of the gulf, in the darting to an aim.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Self Reliance," Essays
Art is a jealous mistress.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Conduct of Life
Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Prudence," Essays
The angels are so enamored of the language that is spoken in heaven, that they will not distort their lips with the hissing and unmusical dialects of men, but speak their own, whether there be any who understand it or not.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Intellect," Essays
I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
When Nature has work to be done, she creates a genius to do it.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Method of Nature
You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Fate," Essays and Lectures
Flowers and fruits are always fit presents; flowers, because they are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all of the utilities of the world. These gay natures contrast with the somewhat stern countenance of ordinary nature: they are like music heard out of a work-house.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
The first wealth is health.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Power," The Conduct of Life
Hitch your wagon to a star.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Society and Solitude
Invention breeds invention.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Society and Solitude
We flee away from cities, but we bring The best of cities, these learned classifiers, Men knowing what they seek, armed eyes of experts. RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "The Adirondacs," May-Day and Other Pieces
Murder in the murderer is no such ruinous thought as poets and romancers will have it; it does not unsettle him, or fright him from his ordinary notice of trifles: it is an act quite easy to be contemplated, but in its sequel, it turns out to be a horrible jangle and confounding of all relations.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
As men's prayers are a disease of the will so are their creeds a disease of the intellect.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
Magic and all that is ascribed to it is a deep presentiment of the powers of science.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
Our life is not so much threatened as our perception. Ghostlike we glide through nature, and should not know our place again.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Experience," Essays
Next to the originator of a good sentence is the first quoter of it.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Letters and Social Aims
The sanity of society is a balance of a thousand insanities.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Nominalist and Realist," Essays
Slavery is no scholar, no improver; it does not love the whistle of the railroad; it does not love the newspaper, the mail-bag, a college, a book or a preacher who has the absurd whim of saying what he thinks; it does not increase the white population; it does not improve the soil; everything goes to decay.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, speech, Aug. 1, 1844
Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
We are always getting ready to live, but never living.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, journal, Apr. 13, 1834
All conservatives are such from personal defects. They have been effeminated by position or nature, born halt and blind, through luxury of their parents, and can only, like invalids, act on the defensive.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, The Conduct of Life
Self-trust is the first secret of success.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Success," Society and Solitude
In skating over thin ice, our safety is in our speed.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
London is the epitome of our times, and the Rome of to-day.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Conduct of Life
Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
'Tis the good reader that makes the good book.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Society and Solitude
A little integrity is better than any career.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, The Conduct of Life
Solitude, the safeguard of mediocrity, is to genius, the stern friend, the cold, obscure shelter where moult the wings which will bear it farther than suns and stars.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, The Conduct of Life
Democracy becomes a government of bullies tempered by editors.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
O birds, your perfect virtues bring, Your song, your forms, your rhythmic flight, Your manners for your heart’s delight, Nestle in hedge, or barn, or roof, Here weave your chamber weather-proof, Forgive our harms, and condescend To man, as to a lubber friend, And, generous, teach his awkward race Courage, and probity, and grace! RALPH WALDO EMERSON, May-Day and Other Pieces
Pay every debt as if God wrote the bill.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, fragment, May-Day and Other Pieces
Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Art
Friendship, like the immortality of the soul, is too good to be believed.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Friendship", Essays
Friendship should be surrounded with ceremonies and respects, and not crushed into corners. Friendship requires more time than poor busy men can usually command.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Behavior", The Conduct of Life
Commit a crime and the world 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 and mole.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, "Compensation," Essays
Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Essays
Read more at http://www.notable-quotes.com/e/emerson_ralph_waldo.html#vkWJQ1BP1aEfHt36.99
Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes (showing 1-30 of 908) “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: accomplishment, be-yourself, conformity, individuality, world 40660 likes like “For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: happiness 22712 likes like “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 serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: life, regrets 13255 likes like “It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson in His Journals tags: friends 11290 likes like “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: inspirational 7825 likes like “Always do what you are afraid to do.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: inspirational 5702 likes like “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: inspirational, life 4661 likes like “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson 2668 likes like “Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson 2545 likes like “When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: dark, stars 2325 likes like “Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance tags: greatness 2206 likes like “The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: friendship 1854 likes like “Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: spirituality 1790 likes like “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: inspirational-success-failure 1673 likes like “Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: courage, inspirational 1595 likes like “I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: books, reading, we-are-what-we-eat, we-are-what-we-read, you-are-what-you-eat, you-are-what-you-read 1460 likes like “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: belief, experience, faith, judging-from-experience, religion, unseen 1454 likes like “Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: dreams 1425 likes like “It is not the length of life, but the depth.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: life 1373 likes like “It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Complete Prose Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: essay, inspirational, lecture, nonfiction, philosophy, self-reliance, social-commentary, transcendentalism 1325 likes like “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: helping-others, make-a-difference, purpose, purpose-of-life 1303 likes like “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: destiny, self-determination 1272 likes like “The earth laughs in flowers.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: flowers, laughter 1198 likes like “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: advice-for-daily-living, inspirational, live-in-the-moment, optimism, wonder 1116 likes like “Life is a journey, not a destination.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: live-in-the-moment 1048 likes like “Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: determination, fate 1020 likes like “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: inspirational 967 likes like “Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: gratitude 906 likes like “Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: motivational, work 904 likes like “Make the most of yourself....for that is all there is of you.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: accomplishment, be-yourself, conformity, individuality, world 40660 likes like “For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: happiness 22712 likes like “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 serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: life, regrets 13255 likes like “It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson in His Journals tags: friends 11290 likes like “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: inspirational 7825 likes like “Always do what you are afraid to do.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: inspirational 5702 likes like “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: inspirational, life 4661 likes like “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson 2668 likes like “Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson 2545 likes like “When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: dark, stars 2325 likes like “Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance tags: greatness 2206 likes like “The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: friendship 1854 likes like “Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: spirituality 1790 likes like “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: inspirational-success-failure 1673 likes like “Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: courage, inspirational 1595 likes like “I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: books, reading, we-are-what-we-eat, we-are-what-we-read, you-are-what-you-eat, you-are-what-you-read 1460 likes like “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: belief, experience, faith, judging-from-experience, religion, unseen 1454 likes like “Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: dreams 1425 likes like “It is not the length of life, but the depth.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: life 1373 likes like “It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Complete Prose Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: essay, inspirational, lecture, nonfiction, philosophy, self-reliance, social-commentary, transcendentalism 1325 likes like “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: helping-others, make-a-difference, purpose, purpose-of-life 1303 likes like “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: destiny, self-determination 1272 likes like “The earth laughs in flowers.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: flowers, laughter 1198 likes like “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: advice-for-daily-living, inspirational, live-in-the-moment, optimism, wonder 1116 likes like “Life is a journey, not a destination.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: live-in-the-moment 1048 likes like “Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: determination, fate 1020 likes like “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: inspirational 967 likes like “Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: gratitude 906 likes like “Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: motivational, work 904 likes like “Make the most of yourself....for that is all there is of you.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes (showing 1-30 of 908) “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: accomplishment, be-yourself, conformity, individuality, world 40660 likes like “For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: happiness 22712 likes like “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 serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: life, regrets 13255 likes like “It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson in His Journals tags: friends 11290 likes like “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: inspirational 7825 likes like “Always do what you are afraid to do.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: inspirational 5702 likes like “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: inspirational, life 4661 likes like “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson 2668 likes like “Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson 2545 likes like “When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: dark, stars 2325 likes like “Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance tags: greatness 2206 likes like “The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: friendship 1854 likes like “Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: spirituality 1790 likes like “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: inspirational-success-failure 1673 likes like “Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: courage, inspirational 1595 likes like “I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: books, reading, we-are-what-we-eat, we-are-what-we-read, you-are-what-you-eat, you-are-what-you-read 1460 likes like “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: belief, experience, faith, judging-from-experience, religion, unseen 1454 likes like “Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: dreams 1425 likes like “It is not the length of life, but the depth.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: life 1373 likes like “It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Complete Prose Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: essay, inspirational, lecture, nonfiction, philosophy, self-reliance, social-commentary, transcendentalism 1325 likes like “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: helping-others, make-a-difference, purpose, purpose-of-life 1303 likes like “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: destiny, self-determination 1272 likes like “The earth laughs in flowers.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: flowers, laughter 1198 likes like “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: advice-for-daily-living, inspirational, live-in-the-moment, optimism, wonder 1116 likes like “Life is a journey, not a destination.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: live-in-the-moment 1048 likes like “Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: determination, fate 1020 likes like “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: inspirational 967 likes like “Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: gratitude 906 likes like “Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: motivational, work 904 likes like “Make the most of yourself....for that is all there is of you.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: accomplishment, be-yourself, conformity, individuality, world 40660 likes like “For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: happiness 22712 likes like “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 serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: life, regrets 13255 likes like “It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson in His Journals tags: friends 11290 likes like “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: inspirational 7825 likes like “Always do what you are afraid to do.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: inspirational 5702 likes like “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: inspirational, life 4661 likes like “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson 2668 likes like “Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson 2545 likes like “When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: dark, stars 2325 likes like “Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance tags: greatness 2206 likes like “The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: friendship 1854 likes like “Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: spirituality 1790 likes like “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: inspirational-success-failure 1673 likes like “Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: courage, inspirational 1595 likes like “I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: books, reading, we-are-what-we-eat, we-are-what-we-read, you-are-what-you-eat, you-are-what-you-read 1460 likes like “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: belief, experience, faith, judging-from-experience, religion, unseen 1454 likes like “Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: dreams 1425 likes like “It is not the length of life, but the depth.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: life 1373 likes like “It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Complete Prose Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: essay, inspirational, lecture, nonfiction, philosophy, self-reliance, social-commentary, transcendentalism 1325 likes like “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: helping-others, make-a-difference, purpose, purpose-of-life 1303 likes like “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: destiny, self-determination 1272 likes like “The earth laughs in flowers.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: flowers, laughter 1198 likes like “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: advice-for-daily-living, inspirational, live-in-the-moment, optimism, wonder 1116 likes like “Life is a journey, not a destination.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: live-in-the-moment 1048 likes like “Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: determination, fate 1020 likes like “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: inspirational 967 likes like “Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: gratitude 906 likes like “Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson tags: motivational, work 904 likes like “Make the most of yourself....for that is all there is of you.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson