Quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson

Discontent is want of self-reliance; it is infirmity of will.

The walls of rude minds are scrawled all over with facts, with thoughts. They shall one day bring a lantern and read the inscriptions.

There are men whose manners have the same essential splendor as the simple and awful sculpture on the friezes of the Parthenon, and the remains of the earliest Greek art.

The first farmer was the first man, and all historic nobility rests on possession and use of land.

Ideas must work through the brains and the arms of good and brave, or they are no better than dreams.

Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.

Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

The moral sense reappears today with the same morning newness that has been from of old the fountain of beauty and strength. You say there is no religion now. 'Tis like saying in rainy weather, There is no sun, when at that moment we are witnessing one of its superlative effects.

A friend is one before whom I may think aloud.

We judge a man's wisdom by his hope.

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 they discover that someone else believes in them and is willing to trust them.

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

The only gift is a portion of thyself.

When we have arrived at the question, the answer is already near.

America is another name for opportunity.

No man thoroughly understands a truth until he has contended against it.

No change of circumstances can repair a defect of character.

Nothing ever great was achieved without enthusiasm.

Life is a progress, and not a station.

All diseases run into one, old age.

The age of a woman doesn't mean a thing. The best tunes are played on the oldest fiddles.

We change, whether we like it or not

The things taught in colleges and schools are not an education, but the means of education.

The gift, to be true, must be the flowing of the giver unto me, correspondent to my flowing unto him.