WIST Quotations

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Blotting Book 1,” (1826-1827)

Dave — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 16:27:58 +0000

What we have learned from others becomes our own by reflection.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Blotting Book 1,” (1826-1827)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Books,” Society and Solitude (1870)

Dave — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 02:17:14 +0000

Consider what you have in the smallest chosen library. A company of the wisest and wittiest men that could be picked out of all civil countries, in a thousand years, have set in best order the results of their learning and wisdom. The men themselves were hid and inaccessible, solitary, impatient of interruption, fenced by etiquette; but the thought which they did not uncover to their bosom friend is here written out in transparent words to us, the strangers of another age.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Books,” Society and Solitude (1870)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Boston” (1873)

Dave — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:02:25 +0000

We grant no dukedoms to the few,
We hold like rights and shall; —
Equal on Sunday in the pew,
On Monday in the mall.
For what avail the plough or sail,
Or land or life, if freedom fail?

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Boston” (1873)

Written and read for the 100th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Character,” Essays: Second Series (1844)

Dave — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 00:05:29 +0000

We boast our emancipation from many superstitions; but if we have broken any idols, it is through a transfer of idolatry. What have I gained, that I no longer immolate a bull to Jove or to Neptune, or a mouse to Hecate; that I do not tremble before the Eumenides, or the Catholic Purgatory, or the Calvinistic Judgment-day, — if I quake at opinion, the public opinion as we call it; or at the threat of assault, or contumely, or bad neighbors, or poverty, or mutilation, or at the rumor of revolution, or of murder? If I quake, what matters it what I quake at?

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Character,” Essays: Second Series (1844)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Character,” Lectures and Biographical Sketches (1883)

Dave — Fri, 28 Feb 2014 13:57:44 +0000

The religion of one age is the literary entertainment of the next.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Character,” Lectures and Biographical Sketches (1883)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Domestic Life,” Society and Solitude (1870)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 18:00:00 +0000

The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it. There is no event greater in life than the appearance of new persons about our hearth, except it be the progress of the character which draws them.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Domestic Life,” Society and Solitude (1870)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Education,” Lectures and Biographical Sketches (1883)

Dave — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:49:09 +0000

The opium of custom, whereof all drink and many go mad.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Education,” Lectures and Biographical Sketches (1883)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Eloquence,” Atlantic Monthly (1858-09)

Dave — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:06:57 +0000

If you would lift me, you must be on higher ground.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Eloquence,” Atlantic Monthly (1858-09)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Eloquence,” Representative Men, Lecture 3 (1850)

Dave — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 12:58:22 +0000

There is no calamity that right words will not begin to redress.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Eloquence,” Representative Men, Lecture 3 (1850)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Eloquence,” Silence and Solitude (1870)

Dave — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 20:08:36 +0000

We boil at different degrees.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Eloquence,” Silence and Solitude (1870)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Eloquence,” Society and Solitude (1870)

Dave — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:55:09 +0000

Put the argument into a concrete shape, into an image — some hard phrase, round and solid as a ball, which they can see and handle and carry home with them — and the cause is half-won.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Eloquence,” Society and Solitude (1870)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Ethics,” Lecture, Masonic Temple, Boston (1837-02-17)

Dave — Fri, 19 Sep 2014 12:06:11 +0000

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 (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Ethics,” Lecture, Masonic Temple, Boston (1837-02-17)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Experience,” Essays: Second Series (1844)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Let us treat men and women well; treat them as if they were real; perhaps they are.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Experience,” Essays: Second Series (1844)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Experience,” Essays: Second Series (1844)

Dave — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:56:38 +0000

Nature, as we know her, is no saint.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Experience,” Essays: Second Series (1844)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Experience,” Essays: Second Series (1844)

Dave — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 22:40:17 +0000

Nature, as we know her, is no saint.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Experience,” Essays: Second Series (1844)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Experience,” Essays: Second Series (1844)

Dave — Tue, 04 Sep 2018 23:09:56 +0000

That which we call sin in others, is experiment for us.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Experience,” Essays: Second Series (1844)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Experience,” Essays: Second Series (1844)

Dave — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 00:55:47 +0000

To finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Experience,” Essays: Second Series (1844)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Experience,” Essays: Second Series (1844)

Dave — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 23:30:55 +0000

We do what we must, and call it by the best names we can, and would fain have the praise of having intended the result which ensues.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Experience,” Essays: Second Series (1844)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Gifts,” Essays: Second Series, No. 5 (1844)

Dave — Sat, 13 Aug 2016 03:32:36 +0000

We do not quite forgive a giver. The hand that feeds us is in some danger of being bitten. We can receive anything from love, for that is a way of receiving it from ourselves; but not from any one who assumes to bestow.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Gifts,” Essays: Second Series, No. 5 (1844)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Gifts,” Essays: Second Series, No. 5 (1844).

Dave — Sat, 25 Nov 2023 21:23:54 +0000

The only gift is a portion of thyself. Thou must bleed for me. Therefore the poet brings his poem; the shepherd, his lamb; the farmer, corn; the miner, a gem; the sailor, coral and shells; the painter, his picture; the girl, a handkerchief of her own sewing.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Gifts,” Essays: Second Series, No. 5 (1844).
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Greatness,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)

Dave — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 18:01:20 +0000

Shall I tell you the secret of the true scholar? It is this: Every man I meet is my master in some point, and in that I learn of him.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Greatness,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)
(Source)

This appears to be the origin of the much more common paraphrase (not found in Emerson's works, but popularized by Dale Carnegie in How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936)): "In my walks, every man I meet is my superior in some way, and in that, I learn from him."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Immortality,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)

Dave — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 12:30:44 +0000

Sufficient to today are the duties of today. Don’t waste life in doubts and fears; spend yourself on the work before you, well assured that the right performance of this hour’s duties will be the best preparation for the hours and ages that will follow it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Immortality,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Lecture on the Times,” Boston (1841-12-02)

Dave — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 21:18:39 +0000

There comes now and then a bolder spirit, I should rather say, a more surrendered soul, more informed and led by God, which is much in advance of the rest, quite beyond their sympathy, but predicts what shall soon be the general fullness; as when we stand by the seashore, whilst the tide is coming in, a wave comes up the beach far higher than any foregoing one, and recedes; and for a long while none comes up to that mark; but after some time the whole sea is there and beyond it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Lecture on the Times,” Boston (1841-12-02)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Man the Reformer,” lecture, Boston (1841-01-25)

Dave — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 13:46:49 +0000

Let our affection flow out to our fellows; it would operate in a day the greatest of all revolutions.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Man the Reformer,” lecture, Boston (1841-01-25)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Man the Reformer,” lecture, Boston (1841-01-25)

Dave — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 01:03:07 +0000

Love would put a new face on this weary old world in which we dwell as pagans and enemies too long.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Man the Reformer,” lecture, Boston (1841-01-25)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Man the Reformer,” lecture, Boston (1841-01-25)

Dave — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 02:05:13 +0000

The trail of the serpent reaches into all the lucrative professions and practices of man, Each has its own wrongs. Each finds a tender and very intelligent conscience a disqualification for success. Each requires of the practitioner a certain shutting of the eyes, a certain dapperness and compliance, an acceptance of customs, a sequestration from the sentiments of generosity and love, a compromise of private opinion and lofty integrity.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Man the Reformer,” lecture, Boston (1841-01-25)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Man the Reformer,” lecture, Boston (1841-01-25)

Dave — Tue, 14 Nov 2017 21:57:38 +0000

When I go into my garden with a spade and dig a bed, I feel such an exhilaration and health, that I discover that I have been defrauding myself all this time in letting others do for me what I should have done with my own hands.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Man the Reformer,” lecture, Boston (1841-01-25)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Montaigne; or, The Skeptic,” Representative Men, Lecture 4 (1850)

Dave — Tue, 12 Nov 2019 23:34:15 +0000

Man helps himself by larger generalizations. The lesson of life is practically to generalize; to believe what the years and the centuries say, against the hours; to resist the usurpation of particulars; to penetrate to their catholic sense. Things seem to say one thing, and say the reverse. The appearance is immoral; the result is moral.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Montaigne; or, The Skeptic,” Representative Men, Lecture 4 (1850)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Montaigne; or, The Skeptic,” Representative Men, Lecture 4 (1850)

Dave — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 21:08:38 +0000

Things seem to tend downward, to justify despondency, to promote rogues, to defeat the just; and by knaves as well as by martyrs the just cause is carried forward. Although knaves win in every political struggle, although society seems to be delivered over from the hands of one set of criminals into the hands of another set of criminals, as fast as the government is changed, and the march of civilization is a train of felonies, yet, general ends are somehow answered.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Montaigne; or, The Skeptic,” Representative Men, Lecture 4 (1850)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Montaigne; or, The Skeptic,” Representative Men, Lecture 4 (1850)

Dave — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 18:23:10 +0000

Keep cool: it will be all one a hundred years hence.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Montaigne; or, The Skeptic,” Representative Men, Lecture 4 (1850)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Montaigne; or, The Skeptic,” Representative Men, Lecture 4 (1850)

Dave — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 21:59:06 +0000

Our life is March weather, savage and serene in one hour.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Montaigne; or, The Skeptic,” Representative Men, Lecture 4 (1850)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Napoleon; or, The Man of the World,” Representative Men, Lecture 6 (1850)

Dave — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 16:48:00 +0000

As long as our civilization is essentially one of property, of fences, of exclusiveness, it will be mocked by delusions. Our riches will leave us sick; there will be bitterness in our laughter; and our wine will burn our mouth. Only that good profits which we can taste with all doors open, and which serves all men.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Napoleon; or, The Man of the World,” Representative Men, Lecture 6 (1850)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Natural Religion” (1861-02-03)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Life is a perpetual instruction in cause and effect.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Natural Religion” (1861-02-03)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Nature,” Essays: Second Series (1844)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

We aim above the mark to hit the mark.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Nature,” Essays: Second Series (1844)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Nature,” Essays: Second Series (1844)

Dave — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 20:07:17 +0000

Great causes are never tried on their merits; but the cause is reduced to particulars to suit the size of the partisans, and the contention is ever hottest on minor matters.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Nature,” Essays: Second Series (1844)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Nature,” ch. 1, Nature: Addresses and Lectures (1849)

Dave — Mon, 29 Aug 2016 23:53:47 +0000

In the woods too, a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at what period soever of life, is always a child. In the woods, is perpetual youth. Within these plantations of God, a decorum and sanctity reign, a perennial festival is dressed, and the guest sees not how he should tire of them in a thousand years. In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, — no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, — my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, — all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Nature,” ch. 1, Nature: Addresses and Lectures (1849)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Nature,” ch. 8, Nature: Addresses and Lectures (1849)

Dave — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 04:08:02 +0000

The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Nature,” ch. 8, Nature: Addresses and Lectures (1849)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Nature,” ch. 8, Nature: Addresses and Lectures (1849)

Dave — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 01:01:42 +0000

A man is a god in ruins.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Nature,” ch. 8, Nature: Addresses and Lectures (1849)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Nature,” Introduction, Nature: Addresses and Lectures (1849)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

We must trust the perfection of the creation so far, as to believe that whatever curiosity the order of things has awakened in our minds, the order of things can satisfy.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Nature,” Introduction, Nature: Addresses and Lectures (1849)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “New England Reformers,” lecture, Boston (1844-03-03), Essays: Second Series (1844)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“New England Reformers,” lecture, Boston (1844-03-03), Essays: Second Series (1844)
(Source)

Reprinted in Essays: Second Series (1844).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “New England Reformers,” lecture, Boston (1844-03-03), Essays: Second Series (1844)

Dave — Thu, 23 Nov 2017 06:09:50 +0000

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 have been aroused, when they hear music, or when they read poetry, they are radicals.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“New England Reformers,” lecture, Boston (1844-03-03), Essays: Second Series (1844)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Old Age,” Society and Solitude (1870)

Dave — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 13:25:28 +0000

Skill to do comes of doing.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Old Age,” Society and Solitude (1870)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Poetry and Imagination,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)

Dave — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 23:58:16 +0000

A man’s action is only a picture-book of his creed.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Poetry and Imagination,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Politics,” Essays: Second Series (1844)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Every actual State is corrupt. Good men must not obey the laws too well.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Politics,” Essays: Second Series (1844)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Politics,” Essays: Second Series (1844)

Dave — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 00:26:11 +0000

What the tender poetic youth dreams, and prays, and paints to-day, but shuns the ridicule of saying aloud, shall presently be the resolutions of public bodies, then shall be carried as grievance and bill of rights through conflict and war, and then shall be triumphant law and establishment for a hundred years, until it gives place, in turn, to new prayers and pictures.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Politics,” Essays: Second Series (1844)
(Source)

This quotation is more often given as the paraphrase used by another speaker of the era, the abolitionist Wendell Phillips:

What the tender and poetic youth dreams to-day, and conjures up with inarticulate speech, is to-morrow the vociferated result of public opinion, and the day after is the charter of nations.

Phillips used this phrase, prefixed with, "As Emerson says," and in quotation marks, at least twice. First in his lecture "Harper's Ferry" (1 Nov 1859), Brooklyn. Second, in a different context, in "The Scholar in a Republic" (30 Jun 1881), a famous speech at the centennial of the Phi Beta Kappa society at Harvard University.

Emerson did not use this shorter phrasing, however, in any of his written works, and frequent attributions of it to him are in error.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Powers and Laws of Thought,” Natural History of Intellect, Lecture 1, Harvard (1870, Spring)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

All great masters are chiefly distinguished by the power of adding a second, a third, and perhaps a fourth step in a continuous line. Many a man had taken the first step. With every additional step you enhance immensely the value of your first.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Powers and Laws of Thought,” Natural History of Intellect, Lecture 1, Harvard (1870, Spring)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Progress of Culture,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)

Dave — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:35:05 +0000

Every artist was first an amateur.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Progress of Culture,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)

Full text.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Progress of Culture,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)

Dave — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:47:31 +0000

How cunningly nature hides every wrinkle of her inconceivable antiquity under roses and violets and morning dew!

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Progress of Culture,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Public and Private Education,” lecture, Boston (1864-11-27)

Dave — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:03:13 +0000

These times of ours are serious and full of calamity, but all times are essentially alike. As soon as there is life there is danger.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Public and Private Education,” lecture, Boston (1864-11-27)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Quotation and Originality,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Our debt to tradition through reading and conversation is so massive, our protest or private addition so rare and insignificant, — and this commonly on the ground of other reading or hearing, — that, in a large sense, one would say there is no pure originality. All minds quote. Old and new make the warp and woof of every moment. There is no thread that is not a twist of these two strands. By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we all quote.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Quotation and Originality,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Quotation and Originality,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)

Dave — Thu, 26 Feb 2004 20:40:39 +0000

Next to the originator of a good sentence is the first quoter of it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Quotation and Originality,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Quotation and Originality,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)

Dave — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:04:37 +0000

We cannot overstate our debt to the Past, but the moment has the supreme claim.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Quotation and Originality,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Quotation and Originality,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)

Dave — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 01:19:31 +0000

The profit of books is according to the sensibility of the reader. The profoundest thought or passion sleeps as in a mine, until an equal mind and heart finds and publishes it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Quotation and Originality,” Letters and Social Aims (1876)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Religion,” The Present Age Lecture 7, Boston (1840-01-29)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Nature is too thin a screen, — the glory of the One breaks in everywhere.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Religion,” The Present Age Lecture 7, Boston (1840-01-29)
(Source)

Lecture series initially presented 4 Dec 1839 - 12 Feb 1840. This particular phrase can be found in Emerson's writing going back to 1837. It also was reused in his Cambridge lecture, "The Preacher" (5 May 1879), in a somewhat different context.

The phrase is also rendered "Nature is too thin a screen; the glory of the omnipresent God bursts through everywhere."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series (1841)

Dave — Wed, 14 Oct 2015 14:36:30 +0000

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 (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series (1841)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series (1841)

Dave — Sat, 31 Dec 2016 01:17:50 +0000

I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series (1841)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series (1841)

Dave — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 21:29:41 +0000

If I know your sect, I anticipate your argument.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series (1841)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Social Aims,” lecture, Boston (1864-12-04), Letters and Social Aims (1875)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Social Aims,” lecture, Boston (1864-12-04), Letters and Social Aims (1875)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Social Aims,” lecture, Boston (1864-12-04), Letters and Social Aims (1875)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Social Aims,” lecture, Boston (1864-12-04), Letters and Social Aims (1875)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Social Aims,” lecture, Boston (1864-12-04), Letters and Social Aims (1875)

Dave — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 01:27:52 +0000

When people come to see us, we foolishly prattle, lest we be inhospitable. But things said for conversation are chalk eggs. Don’t say things. What you are stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Social Aims,” lecture, Boston (1864-12-04), Letters and Social Aims (1875)
(Source)

Likely source of the abridgments more commonly found *in:

"What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say."
"What you are speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say."
"Who you are speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say."
"What we are speaks louder than what we say." [John F Kennedy, Q&A, Salt Lake City (23 Sep 1960), and in numerous subsequent speeches]

More discussion of this quotation: What You Do Speaks So Loudly that I Cannot Hear What You Say – Quote Investigator

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Social Aims,” lecture, Boston (1864-12-04), Letters and Social Aims (1875)

Dave — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:14:06 +0000

In good conversation, parties don’t speak to the words, but to the meanings of each other.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Social Aims,” lecture, Boston (1864-12-04), Letters and Social Aims (1875)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Social Aims,” lecture, Boston (1864-12-04), Letters and Social Aims (1875)

Dave — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 20:27:06 +0000

A man makes his inferiors his superiors by heat. […] Self-control is the rule.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Social Aims,” lecture, Boston (1864-12-04), Letters and Social Aims (1875)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Social Aims,” lecture, Boston (1864-12-04), Letters and Social Aims (1875)

Dave — Mon, 19 May 2014 14:06:39 +0000

Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Social Aims,” lecture, Boston (1864-12-04), Letters and Social Aims (1875)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Social Aims,” lecture, Boston (1864-12-04), Letters and Social Aims (1875)

Dave — Thu, 02 Nov 2017 18:36:53 +0000

Good manners are made up of petty sacrifices.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Social Aims,” lecture, Boston (1864-12-04), Letters and Social Aims (1875)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Solitude and Society,” Atlantic Monthly (1857-12)

Dave — Tue, 24 May 2016 13:38:27 +0000

For behavior, men learn it, as they take diseases, one of another.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Solitude and Society,” Atlantic Monthly (1857-12)

Paraphrase of Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part 2, Act 5, sc. 1: "It is certain that either wife bearing or ignorant carriage is caught, as men take diseases, one of another: therefore let men take heed of their company." Sometimes misattributed to Francis Bacon.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Success,” Society and Solitude (1870)

Dave — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:56:55 +0000

Excellence is lost sight of in the hunger for sudden performance and praise.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Success,” Society and Solitude (1870)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Success,” Society and Solitude (1870)

Dave — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 13:30:56 +0000

Self-trust is the first secret of success.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Success,” Society and Solitude (1870)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Table Talk,” American Life, lecture, Boston (1864-12-18)

Dave — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:22:57 +0000

I have seen a man of genius who made one think if other men were like him, cooperation were impossible. Must we always talk for victory, and never once for truth, for comfort, and joy?

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Table Talk,” American Life, lecture, Boston (1864-12-18)
(Source)

Speaking of Thoreau's style of conversation. Originally a Journal entry of 29 Feb 1856. Also part of the lecture "Social Aims".

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “The American Scholar,” sec. 3, speech, Phi Beta Kappa Society, Cambridge (1837-08-31)

Dave — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 05:27:42 +0000

Character is higher than intellect.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The American Scholar,” sec. 3, speech, Phi Beta Kappa Society, Cambridge (1837-08-31)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “The Assault upon Mr. Sumner,” speech, Concord (1856-05-26)

Dave — Fri, 02 May 2014 13:22:45 +0000

It is only when they cannot answer your reasons, that they wish to knock you down.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Assault upon Mr. Sumner,” speech, Concord (1856-05-26)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “The Comic,” closing words, Letters and Social Aims (1875)

Dave — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 10:42:10 +0000

When Carlini was convulsing Naples with laughter, a patient waited on a physician in that city, to obtain some remedy for excessive melancholy, which was rapidly consuming his life. The physician endeavored to cheer his spirits, and advised him to go to the theater and see Carlini. He replied, “I am Carlini.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Comic,” closing words, Letters and Social Aims (1875)
(Source)

This joke/anecdote has numerous variations over the last century and more. For example, see here and here.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “The Conservative,” lecture, Boston (1841-12-09)

Dave — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:32:27 +0000

Conservatism stands on man’s incontestable limitations; reform on his indisputable infinitiude.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Conservative,” lecture, Boston (1841-12-09)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “The Conservative,” lecture, Boston (1841-12-09)

Dave — Mon, 26 Dec 2016 19:04:57 +0000

There is always a certain meanness in the argument of conservatism, joined with a certain superiority in its fact.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Conservative,” lecture, Boston (1841-12-09)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “The Divinity School Address” (1838)

Dave — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 00:49:04 +0000

To aim to convert a man by miracles is a profanation of the soul.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Divinity School Address” (1838)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “The Fortune of the Republic,” lecture, Boston (1878-03-30)

Dave — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:27:28 +0000

Divine Providence sends the chiefest benefits under the mask of calamities.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Fortune of the Republic,” lecture, Boston (1878-03-30)

Final version of a lecture first given in 1863, and his last public speech.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “The Fortune of the Republic,” lecture, Boston (1878-03-30)

Dave — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:04:18 +0000

The gracious lesson taught by science to this country is that the history of Nature from first to last is incessant advance from less to more, from rude to finer organization, the globe of matter thus conspiring with the principle of undying hope in man. Nature works in immense time, and spends individuals and races prodigally to prepare new individuals and races.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Fortune of the Republic,” lecture, Boston (1878-03-30)
(Source)

Final version of a lecture first given in 1863, and his last public speech.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “The Individual and the State,” sermon, Second Church of Boston (1830-04-08)

Dave — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 15:44:17 +0000

In a virtuous community men of sense and principle will always be placed at the head of affairs. In a declining state of public morals men will be so blinded to their true interests as to put the incapable and unworthy at the helm. It is therefore vain to complain of the follies or crimes of a government. We must lay the hands on our own hearts and say, Here is the sin that makes the public sin.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Individual and the State,” sermon, Second Church of Boston (1830-04-08)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “The Man of Letters,” Lectures and Biographical Sketches (1883)

Dave — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:21:57 +0000

There is no unemployed force in Nature. All decomposition is recomposition.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Man of Letters,” Lectures and Biographical Sketches (1883)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “The Method of Nature,” speech, Waterville College, Maine (1841-08-11)

Dave — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 00:39:31 +0000

The one condition coupled with the gift of truth is its use.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Method of Nature,” speech, Waterville College, Maine (1841-08-11)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “The Over-Soul,” Essays: First Series, ch. 9 (1841)

Dave — Fri, 27 Dec 2013 22:42:13 +0000

The faith that stands on authority is not faith. The reliance on authority measures the decline of religion, the withdrawal of the soul.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Over-Soul,” Essays: First Series, ch. 9 (1841)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “The Preacher,” lecture, Cambridge (1879-05-05)

Dave — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 13:06:48 +0000

Once we had wooden chalices and golden priests, now we have golden chalices and wooden priests.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Preacher,” lecture, Cambridge (1879-05-05)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “The Preacher,” lecture, Cambridge (1879-05-05)

Dave — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 12:57:35 +0000

I find myself always struck and stimulated by a good anecdote, any trait of heroism, of faithful service. I do not find that the age or country makes the least difference; no, nor the language the actor spoke, nor the religion which they professed, — whether Arab in the desert, or Frenchman in the Academy. I see that sensible men and conscientious men all over the world were of one religion of well-doing and daring, men of sturdy truth, men of integrity and feeling for others.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Preacher,” lecture, Cambridge (1879-05-05)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “The Scholar,” lecture, University of Virginia (1876-06-28)

Dave — Fri, 19 May 2017 22:32:56 +0000

Men run out of one superstition into an opposite superstition.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Scholar,” lecture, University of Virginia (1876-06-28)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “The Young American,” lecture, Mercantile Library Association, Boston (1844-02-07)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Every observation of history inspires a confidence that we shall not go far wrong; that things will mend.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Young American,” lecture, Mercantile Library Association, Boston (1844-02-07)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Trust Yourself,” Sermon 90 (1830)

Dave — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 14:38:25 +0000

The Bible is a sealed book to him who has not first heard its laws from his soul.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Trust Yourself,” Sermon 90 (1830)
(Source)

Sermon on Matthew 16:26.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Trust Yourself,” Sermon 90 (1830)

Dave — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 15:04:54 +0000

How ridiculous is Caesar and Bonaparte wandering from one extreme of civilization to the other to conquer men — himself, the while, unconquered, unexplored, almost wholly unsuspected to himself?

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Trust Yourself,” Sermon 90 (1830)
(Source)

Sermon on Matthew 16:26.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Trust Yourself,” Sermon 90 (1830)

Dave — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 15:08:46 +0000

The more finished the character, the more striking is its individuality.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Trust Yourself,” Sermon 90 (1830)
(Source)

Sermon on Matthew 16:26.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Uses of Great Men,” Representative Men Lecture 1, Boston (1845-12-11)

Dave — Wed, 16 May 2007 21:34:23 +0000

But a new danger appears in the excess of influence of the great man. His attractions warp us from our place. We have become underlings and intellectual suicides. Ah! yonder in the horizon is our help; — other great men, new qualities, counterweights and checks on each other. We cloy of the honey of each peculiar greatness. Every hero becomes a bore at last.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Uses of Great Men,” Representative Men Lecture 1, Boston (1845-12-11)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Uses of Great Men,” Representative Men Lecture 1, Boston (1845-12-11)

Dave — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:43:53 +0000

The shield against the stingings of conscience is the universal practice of our contemporaries. Again, it is very easy to be as wise and good as your companions.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Uses of Great Men,” Representative Men Lecture 1, Boston (1845-12-11)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “War,” lecture, Boston (1838-03), Aesthetic Papers, Article 3 (1849)

Dave — Tue, 08 Nov 2016 05:12:45 +0000

The manhood that has been in war must be transferred to the cause of peace, before war can lose its charm, and peace be venerable to men.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“War,” lecture, Boston (1838-03), Aesthetic Papers, Article 3 (1849)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Works and Days,” Society and Solitude, ch. 7 (1870)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 18:00:00 +0000

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 (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Works and Days,” Society and Solitude, ch. 7 (1870)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Works and Days,” Society and Solitude, ch. 7 (1870)

Dave — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:29:39 +0000

Can anyone remember when times were not hard, and money was not scarce?

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Works and Days,” Society and Solitude, ch. 7 (1870)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him with his friendship.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
(Attributed)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- (Misattributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

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 (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
(Misattributed)

Though widely credited to Emerson, this appears to be a misattributed variation of a Leo Rosten quotation. More discussion of the connection here: The Purpose of Life Is Not To Be Happy But To Matter – Quote Investigator.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- (Misattributed)

Dave — Mon, 03 May 2021 20:01:07 +0000

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition, to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
(Misattributed)

This is regularly attributed to Emerson, but has not been found in his work. The original appears to be a contest essay written by Bessie A. Stanley of Lincoln, Nebraska in 1905:

He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction.

In 1951, Albert E. Wiggam, a newspaper columnist, wrote this similar passage, claiming it was an abridged version of something Emerson wrote:

To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty. To find the best in others; to give one’s self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exaltation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived -- this is to have succeeded.

Variations of both quotations exist, but Wiggam seems to be the source of the Emerson reference. This was later cemented by Ann Landers producing the variation at the top of this post, citing Emerson but not Wiggam. She also at other times attributed it to Harry Emerson Fosdick and Bessie A. Stanley.

More information here:

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- (Spurious)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
(Spurious)

Frequently ascribed to him, especially in recent decades, but not found in his works.

More discussion about this quotation:

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- (Spurious)

Dave — Mon, 07 Mar 2022 17:24:02 +0000

Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
(Spurious)

Not found in Emerson's writings. Author remains unknown.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- (Spurious)

Dave — Thu, 13 Jul 2023 00:29:48 +0000

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety. Finish every 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; begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
(Spurious)

This widely spread inspirational quotation is actually a piecing-together of multiple phrases from different sources, some not even Emerson. It includes bits from his essay "Works and Days" (here and here), observations on Emerson by Lillian Whiting, and fragments from a letter by him to his daughter Ellen.

The result sounds much like Emerson, but would require more ellipses than text to qualify as a quotation of him. It would be a great candidate for an AI "quotation" except that references to it can be found back in the 2010s, so it is almost certainly of human origin.

More detailed discussion: poetry - From which book or essay are these words by Ralph Waldo Emerson? "Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year..." - Literature Stack Exchange.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Art,” Essays: First Series, No. 12

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Art,” Essays: First Series, No. 12
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Art,” Essays: First Series, No. 12

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Art,” Essays: First Series, No. 12
(Source)

Part of a paragraph taken from the course "Human Culture," lecture "Eye and Ear."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Circles,” Essays: First Series, No. 10

Dave — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 12:32:09 +0000

There is no virtue which is final; all are initial. The virtues of society are the vices of the saint. The terror of reform is the discovery that we must cast away our virtues, or what we have always esteemed such, into the same pit that has consumed our grosser vices.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Circles,” Essays: First Series, No. 10
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Circles,” Essays: First Series, No. 10

Dave — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 16:20:42 +0000

No facts are to me sacred; none are profane; I simply experiment, an endless seeker, with no Past at my back.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Circles,” Essays: First Series, No. 10
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Circles,” Essays: First Series, No. 10

Dave — Mon, 20 Feb 2017 20:05:25 +0000

People wish to be settled; only as far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them. Life is a series of surprises.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Circles,” Essays: First Series, No. 10
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Compensation,” Essays: First Series, No. 3

Dave — Mon, 22 May 2017 16:13:03 +0000

In general, every evil to which we do not succumb is a benefactor. As the Sandwich Islander believes that the strength and valor of the enemy he kills passes into himself, so we gain the strength of the temptation we resist.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Compensation,” Essays: First Series, No. 3
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Friendship,” Essays: First Series, No. 6

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Let us be silent, — so we may hear the whisper of the gods.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Friendship,” Essays: First Series, No. 6
(Source)

Sometimes misquoted as "whispers of the gods."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Friendship,” Essays: First Series, No. 6

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him, I may think aloud.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Friendship,” Essays: First Series, No. 6
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Friendship,” Essays: First Series, No. 6

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Friendship,” Essays: First Series, No. 6
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Friendship,” Essays: First Series, No. 6

Dave — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:17:57 +0000

Better be a nettle in the side of your friend than his echo.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Friendship,” Essays: First Series, No. 6
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Heroism,” Essays: First Series, No. 8

Dave — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 12:38:19 +0000

Adhere to your own act, and congratulate yourself if you have done something strange and extravagant and broken the monotony of a decorous age. It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, — “Always do what you are afraid to do.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Heroism,” Essays: First Series, No. 8
(Source)

Some sources start with "Be true to ...." See also Schmich.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “History,” Essays: First Series, No. 1

Dave — Mon, 16 Jan 2017 20:32:15 +0000

Every man is a divinity in disguise, a god playing the fool. It seems as if heaven had sent its insane angels into our world as to an asylum, and here they will break out into their native music and utter at intervals the words they have heard in heaven; and then the mad fit returns, and they mope and wallow like dogs.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “History,” Essays: First Series, No. 1
(Source)

This essay was a combination of three separate lectures on "English Literature" (1835-1836), "The Philosophy of History" (1836-1837), and "Human Life" (1837-1838).

Note this passage is missing from the University of Michigan online collection.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Intellect,” Essays: First Series, No. 11

Dave — Fri, 11 Nov 2016 20:38:06 +0000

God offers to every mind its choice between truth and repose. Take which you please — you can never have both.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Intellect,” Essays: First Series, No. 11
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Prudence,” Essays: First Series, No. 7

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Prudence,” Essays: First Series, No. 7
(Source)

Based on a lecture (winter 1837-1838), Boston, the seventh in his course on "Human Culture."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Prudence,” Essays: First Series, No. 7

Dave — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 20:49:15 +0000

If the hive be disturbed by rash and stupid hands, instead of honey, it will yield us bees.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Prudence,” Essays: First Series, No. 7
(Source)

Based on a lecture (winter 1837–1838), Boston, the seventh in his course on "Human Culture."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Prudence,” Essays: First Series, No. 7

Dave — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 21:23:19 +0000

In the occurrence of unpleasant things among neighbors, fear comes readily to heart and magnifies the consequence of the other party; but it is a bad counsellor. Every man is actually weak and apparently strong. To himself he seems weak; to others, formidable. You are afraid of Grim; but Grim also is afraid of you. You are solicitous of the good-will of the meanest person, uneasy at his ill-will. But the sturdiest offender of your peace and of the neighborhood, if you rip up his claims, is as thin and timid as any, and the peace of society is often kept, because, as children say, one is afraid and the other dares not.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Prudence,” Essays: First Series, No. 7

Dave — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 21:13:36 +0000

We refuse sympathy and intimacy with people, as if we waited for some better sympathy and intimacy to come. But whence and when? To-morrow will be like to-day. Life wastes itself whilst we are preparing to live. Our friends and fellow-workers die off from us. Scarcely can we say we see new men, new women, approaching us. We are too old to regard fashion, too old to expect patronage of any greater or more powerful. Let us suck the sweetness of those affections and consuetudes that grow near us. These old shoes are easy to the feet.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 18:00:00 +0000

With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think to-day in words as hard as cannon-balls and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2
(Source)

Inspired by his reading of Walter Savage Landor in 1833, with passages pulled from his lecture "Individualism," last in his course on "The Philosophy of History" (1836–1837), with other passages from the lectures "School," "Genius," and "Duty" in his course on "Human Life" (1838–1839).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2
(Source)

This thought continues here.

This essay was inspired by his reading of Walter Savage Landor in 1833, with passages pulled from his lecture "Individualism," last in his course on "The Philosophy of History" (1836–1837), with other passages from the lectures "School," "Genius," and "Duty" in his course on "Human Life" (1838–1839).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2
(Source)

Closing words.

This essay was inspired by his reading of Walter Savage Landor in 1833, with passages pulled from his lecture "Individualism," last in his course on "The Philosophy of History" (1836–1837), with other passages from the lectures "School," "Genius," and "Duty" in his course on "Human Life" (1838–1839).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2

Dave — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 16:02:52 +0000

Your goodness must have some edge to it, — else it is none.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2
(Source)

This essay was inspired by his reading of Walter Savage Landor in 1833, with passages pulled from his lecture "Individualism," last in his course on "The Philosophy of History" (1836–1837), with other passages from the lectures "School," "Genius," and "Duty" in his course on "Human Life" (1838–1839).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2

Dave — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:57:43 +0000

Cause and Effect, the chancellors of God.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2

Dave — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:02:55 +0000

God will not have his work made manifest by cowards.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2
(Source)

The "work" being the actualized human being.

Inspired by his reading of Walter Savage Landor in 1833. Preliminary work, including this phrase, is found in Emerson's journal (1833-01-13). A small portion of the essay was from his lecture "Individualism," last in his course on "The Philosophy of History" (1836–1837), with other passages from the lectures "School," "Genius," and "Duty" in his course on "Human Life" (1838–1839).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2

Dave — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:33:46 +0000

You will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2

Dave — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:26:31 +0000

A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his.
In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. Great works of art have no more affecting lesson for us than this. They teach us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good-humored inflexibility then most when the whole cry of voices is on the other side. Else to-morrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2

Dave — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:13:44 +0000

Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1841), “Self-Reliance,” Essays: First Series, No. 2

Dave — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 11:44:40 +0000

Insist on yourself; never imitate.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Beauty,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 8

Dave — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 22:03:42 +0000

Gross and obscure natures, however decorated, seem impure shambles; but character gives splendor to youth, and awe to wrinkled skin and gray hairs.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Beauty,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 8
(Source)

Based on a course of lectures by that name first delivered in Pittsburg, 1851-03.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Behavior,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 5

Dave — Mon, 20 Jan 2025 20:20:19 +0000

A main fact in the history of manners is the wonderful expressiveness of the human body. If it were made of glass, or of air, and the thoughts were written on steel tablets within, it could not publish more truly its meaning than now. Wise men read very sharply all your private history in your look and gait and behavior. The whole economy of nature is bent on expression. The telltale body is all tongues.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Behavior,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 5
(Source)

Based on a course of lectures by that name first delivered in Pittsburg (1851-03).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Behavior,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 5

Dave — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 19:27:04 +0000

An eye can threaten like a loaded and leveled gun, or can insult like hissing or kicking; or, in its altered mood, by beams of kindness, it can make the heart dance with joy.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Behavior,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 5
(Source)

Based on a course of lectures, "The Conduct of Life," delivered in Pittsburg (1851-03).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Considerations by the Way,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 7

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Our chief want in life is someone who shall make us do what we can. This is the service of a friend. With him we are easily great.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Considerations by the Way,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 7
(Source)

Based on a course of lectures by that name first delivered in Pittsburg, 1851-03.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Considerations by the Way,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 7

Dave — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:44:47 +0000

We learn geology the morning after the earthquake.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Considerations by the Way,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 7

Dave — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 09:30:24 +0000

We acquire the strength we have overcome.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Considerations by the Way,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 7

Dave — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 22:36:17 +0000

The music that can deepest reach,
And cure all ill, is cordial speech.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Considerations by the Way,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 7

Dave — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 21:56:54 +0000

Most of the great results of history are brought about by discreditable means.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Culture,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 4

Dave — Tue, 17 Mar 2020 23:21:01 +0000

A great part of courage is the courage of having done the thing before.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Culture,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 4
(Source)

Based on a course of lectures by that name first delivered in Pittsburg (1851-03).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Fate,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 1

Dave — Tue, 05 May 2020 20:33:34 +0000

The way of Providence is a little rude. The habit of snake and spider, the snap of the tiger and other leapers and bloody jumpers, the crackle of the bones of his prey in the coil of the anaconda, — these are in the system, and our habits are like theirs. You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughter-house is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity, expensive races, — race living at the expense of race.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Fate,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 1
(Source)

Based on a course of lectures by that name first delivered in Pittsburg (1851-03).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Illusions,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 9

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Whatever games are played with us, we must play no games with ourselves, but deal in our privacy with the last honesty and truth.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Illusions,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 9
(Source)

Based on a course of lectures by that name first delivered in Pittsburg (1851-03).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Power,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 2

Dave — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 12:20:57 +0000

But in our flowing affairs a decision must be made, — the best, if you can, but any is better than none. There are twenty ways of going to a point, and one is the shortest; but set out at once on one. A man who has that presence of mind which can bring to him on the instant all he knows, is worth for action a dozen men who know as much but can only bring it to light slowly.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Power,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 2
(Source)

Based on a course of lectures by that name first delivered in Pittsburg (1851-03).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Power,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 2

Dave — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 20:28:55 +0000

Concentration is the secret of strength in politics, in war, in trade, in short, in all management of human affairs.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Wealth,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 3

Dave — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:17:59 +0000

Money often costs too much, and power and pleasure are not cheap.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Wealth,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 3
(Source)

Based on a course of lectures by that name first delivered in Pittsburg (1851-03).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Wealth,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 3

Dave — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 22:28:07 +0000

Art is a jealous mistress, and, if a man have a genius for painting, poetry, music, architecture, or philosophy, he makes a bad husband and an ill provider.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Wealth,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 3
(Source)

Based on a course of lectures, "The Conduct of Life," delivered in Pittsburg (1851-03).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Wealth,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 3

Dave — Mon, 12 May 2014 16:09:10 +0000

Want is a growing giant whom the coat of Have was never large enough to cover.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Wealth,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 3

Dave — Tue, 07 Apr 2020 16:51:00 +0000

Every man is a consumer, and ought to be a producer. He fails to make his place good in the world, unless he not only pays his debt, but also adds something to the common wealth.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Wealth,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 3

Dave — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 19:42:04 +0000

Good luck is another name for tenacity of purpose.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Worship,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 6

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 18:00:00 +0000

Shallow men believe in luck, believe in circumstances — it was somebody’s name, or he happened to be there at the time, or it was so then, and another day would have been otherwise. Strong men believe in cause and effect.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1860), “Worship,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 6
(Source)

Based on a course of lectures, "The Conduct of Life," delivered in Pittsburg (1851-03).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Worship,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 6

Dave — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 12:27:33 +0000

Every man takes care that his neighbor shall not cheat him. But a day comes when he begins to care that he do not cheat his neighbor. Then all goes well. He has changed his market cart for a chariot of the sun.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Worship,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 6

Dave — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 23:02:22 +0000

People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. We can only see what we are, and if we misbehave we suspect others.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Worship,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 6

Dave — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 18:07:44 +0000

The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Worship,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 6

Dave — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 16:16:00 +0000

Against all appearances the nature of things works for truth and right forever.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Worship,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 6

Dave — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 19:56:56 +0000

The real and lasting victories are those of peace and not of war.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1860), “Worship,” The Conduct of Life, ch. 6

Dave — Tue, 08 Sep 2020 21:48:15 +0000

We are born believing. A man bears beliefs as a tree bears apples.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Essay (1878-03), “Crabbed Age and Youth,” Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 37

Dave — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 17:51:42 +0000

When the old man waggles his head and says, “Ah, so I thought when I was your age,” he has proved the youth’s case. Doubtless, whether from growth of experience or decline of animal heat, he thinks so no longer; but he thought so while he was young; and all men have thought so while they were young, since there was dew in the morning or hawthorn in May; and here is another young man adding his vote to those of previous generations and riveting another link to the chain of testimony.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Essay (1878-03), “Crabbed Age and Youth,” Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 37
(Source)

Collected in Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers, ch. 2 (1881).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1820-12-05)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

The human soul, the world, the universe are laboring on to their magnificent consummation. We are not fashioned

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1820-12-05)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1820-12)

Dave — Wed, 13 Jan 2016 15:56:55 +0000

The human soul, the world, the universe are laboring on to their magnificent consummation. We are not fashioned thus marvelously for nought.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1820-12)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1824-12-10)

Dave — Thu, 26 Feb 2004 20:39:36 +0000

I confess I am a little cynical on some topics, and when a whole nation is roaring Patriotism at the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of its hands and purity of its heart.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1824-12-10)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1824)

Dave — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 14:32:08 +0000

Envy is the tax which all distinction must pay.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1824)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1827)

Dave — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 13:52:26 +0000

It is said public opinion will not bear it. Really? Public opinion, I am sorry to say, will bear a great deal of nonsense. There is scarce any absurdity so gross, whether in religion, politics, science, or manners, which it will not bear.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1827)

Also in "Success," Society and Solitude (1870).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1828-06-25)

Dave — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:54:40 +0000

What is the matter with the world that it is so out of joint? Simply that men do not rule themselves but let circumstances rule them.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1828-06-25)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1829-12-07)

Dave — Fri, 13 Nov 2020 18:44:54 +0000

The great majority of men are bundles of beginnings. There is not one who has not felt the sacred fire of virtue many a time kindling up within him. He resolved to read, he resolved to give, he solved to abstain, to speak well, to think in a train, to serve God, to imitate Christ. Something he did toward realizing his purpose — but it was most unlucky time — some very unseasonable circumstances occurred and the good purpose was postponed. Who is there here who does not remember his defeats?

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1829-12-07)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1830-08-18)

Dave — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 21:14:53 +0000

The sun shines and warms and lights us and we have no curiosity to know why this is so; but we ask the reason of all evil, of pain, and hunger, and mosquitoes and silly people

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1830-08-18)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1831-03-04)

Dave — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:15:13 +0000

The Religion that is afraid of science dishonours God and commits suicide.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1831-03-04)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1831-07-21)

Dave — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 14:56:45 +0000

Riches are a trust. …
Power is a trust. …
Talents are a trust too; that is the condition of their increase. They must be put out to use, or they will ruin the steward.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1831-07-21)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1831-07)

Dave — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 13:19:09 +0000

Riches are a trust. … Power is a trust. So also is genius or every degree of wisdom. … Talents are a trust, too; that is the condition of their increase. They must be put out to use, or they will ruin the steward.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1831-07)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1831, undated)

Dave — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:29:43 +0000

Our very defects are … shadows of our virtues.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1831, undated)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1831)

Dave — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 14:20:45 +0000

Every fact depends for its value on how much we already know.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1831)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1831)

Dave — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 15:40:35 +0000

He that succeeds in the world loves it. He that fails in it hates it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1831)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1831)

Dave — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 21:07:02 +0000

There is a capacity of virtue in us, and there is a capacity of vice to make your blood creep.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1831)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1833-07-28)

Dave — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:10:13 +0000

Happy the man who never puts on a face, but receives every visitor with that countenance he has on.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1833-07-28)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1834-04-23)

Dave — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 14:50:11 +0000

Rain, rain. The good rain, like a bad preacher, does not know when to leave off.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1834-04-23)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1834-05-16)

Dave — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 00:33:16 +0000

Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1834-05-16)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1834)

Dave — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 15:43:09 +0000

Wherever the truth is injured, defend it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1834)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1836)

Dave — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 13:51:09 +0000

Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your reading have been to you like the blast of trumpet out of Shakespeare, Seneca, Moses, John, and Paul.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1836)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1836)

Dave — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 13:45:19 +0000

The more profound the thought, the more burdensome. What is in will out.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1836)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1836)

Dave — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 23:46:36 +0000

Nothing is useless. A superstition is a hamper or a basket to carry useful lessons in.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1836)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1836)

Dave — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 00:43:30 +0000

Observe the invincible tendency of the mind to unify. It is a law of our constitution that we should not contemplate things apart without the effort to arrange them in order with known facts and ascribe them to the same law.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1836)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1836)

Dave — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 02:51:19 +0000

The ocean is a large drop; the drop, a small ocean.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1836)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1837-09-30)

Dave — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 12:03:56 +0000

There never was a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him asleep.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1837-09-30)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1837-1862)

Dave — Mon, 26 Sep 2016 23:48:03 +0000

Value of a Journal. A sentence now; a sentence last year; a sentence yesterday. Tomorrow a question comes that for the first time brings together these three and shows them to be the three fractions of Unit.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1837-1862)

"Notebook Delta"

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1838-06-19)

Dave — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:18:54 +0000

Be not the slave of your own past.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1838-06-19)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1838-08-27)

Dave — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 03:05:48 +0000

The meaning of good & bad, of better & worse, is simply helping or hurting.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1838-08-27)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1838-08-31)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1838-08-31)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1838-11-08)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1838-11-08)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1838)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 18:00:00 +0000

I stir in it for the sad reason that no other mortal will move, and if I do not, why, it is left undone. The amount of it, be sure, is merely a Scream; but sometimes a scream is better than a thesis.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1838)

Referring to his attempts to stop the US Government's forced expulsion of the Cherokee from their land.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1838)

Dave — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 00:18:25 +0000

Solitude is naught and society is naught. Alternate them and the good of each is seen.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1838)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1838)

Dave — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 02:50:27 +0000

The test of a religion or philosophy is the number of things it can explain: so true it is. But the religion of our churches explains neither art not society nor history, but itself needs explanation.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1838)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1838)

Dave — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 01:58:31 +0000

They will have Christ for a Lord and not for a Brother. Christ preaches the greatness of man, but we hear only the greatness of Christ.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1838)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1839-02-07)

Dave — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 05:30:03 +0000

In nature nothing is done but in the cheapest way.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1839-02-07)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1839-03-22/25)

Dave — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 05:17:00 +0000

A man must consider what a rich realm he abdicates when he becomes a conformist.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1839-03-22/25)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1839-04-06)

Dave — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 14:07:33 +0000

I have regard to appearance still. So am I no hero.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1839-04-06)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1840-05-06)

Dave — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 12:45:05 +0000

Every man supposes himself not to be fully understood or appreciated.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1840-05-06)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1840-05-10)

Dave — Tue, 06 Dec 2016 04:33:22 +0000

Conformity is the ape of harmony.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1840-05-10)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1840-06/08)

Dave — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 13:06:01 +0000

Let every man shovel out his own snow and the whole city will be passable.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1840-06/08)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1840-07-13/14)

Dave — Tue, 20 Dec 2016 04:02:46 +0000

We are all boarders on one table — White man, black man, ox and eagle, bee, & worm.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1840-07-13/14)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1841-02-12)

Dave — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 16:12:14 +0000

In the Feejee islands, it appears, cannibalism is now familiar. They eat their own wives and children. We only devour widows’ houses, & great merchants outwit & absorb the substance of small ones and every man feeds on his neighbor’s labor if he can. It is a milder form of cannibalism.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1841-02-12)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1841-10-28)

Dave — Wed, 21 Oct 2015 14:50:01 +0000

We are very near to greatness: one step and we are safe: can we not take the leap?

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1841-10-28)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1841)

Dave — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 15:17:10 +0000

People say law, but they mean wealth.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1841)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1842-01-30)

Dave — Tue, 03 Apr 2018 23:33:53 +0000

Sorrow makes us all children again, destroys all difference of intellect. The wisest knows nothing.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1842-01-30)
(Source)

Two days after he recorded the death of his son.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1842-10)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

You shall have joy, or you shall have power, said God; you shall not have both.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1842-10)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1842-11-26)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little coarse, and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice. Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1842-11-26)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1843-09)

Dave — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 00:29:44 +0000

Never strike a king unless you are sure you shall kill him.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1843-09)
(Source)

In addition to the noted source, see also here. However, according to the reliable Ralph Keyes, the quotation is spurious. Keyes also suggests an inspiration from the 17th Century English proverb, "Whosoever draws his sword against the prince must throw the scabbard away."

A variant, "When you strike at a king you must kill him," is attributed to Emerson by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., in Max Lerner, The Mind and Faith of Justice Holmes (1943).

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1843-11)

Dave — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 12:48:42 +0000

If I have lost confidence in myself, I have the Universe against me.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1843-11)