Ralph Waldo Emerson

Manners are the happy ways of doing things; each one a stroke of genius or of love, now repeated and hardened into usage, they form at last a rich varnish, with which the routine of life is washed, and its details adorned. If they are superficial, so are the dew-drops which give such a depth to the morning meadows.

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

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

Wherever there is power there is age.

It is impossible for a man to be cheated by anyone but himself.

The wonder is always new that any sane man can be a sailor.

There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.

Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those who we cannot resemble.

You have to choose between trusting to the natural stability of gold and the natural stability of the honesty and intelligence of the members of the Government. And, with due respect for these gentlemen, I advise you, as long as the Capitalist system lasts, to vote for gold.

The State must follow, and not lead, the character and progress of the citizen.

Between us, we cover all knowledge; he knows all that can be known and I know the rest.

Nothing external to you has any power over you.

No one won the last war, and no one will win the next war.

When desire, having rejected reason and overpowered judgment which leads to right, is set in the direction of the pleasure which beauty can inspire, and when again under the influence of its kindred desires it is moved with violent motion towards the beauty of corporeal forms, it acquires a surname from this very violent motion, and is called love.

Certainly the best works, and of greatest merit for the public, have proceeded from the unmarried, or childless men.

All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.

First love is only a little foolishness and a lot of curiosity: no really self-respecting woman would take advantage of it.

The secret source of humor is not joy but sorrow; there is no humor in Heaven.

When you’ve worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. You reach back, and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.

Other men are lenses through which we read our own minds. Each man seeks those of different quality from his own, and such as are good of their kind; that is, he seeks other men, and the rest.

We are apt to love praise, but not deserve it. But if we would deserve it, we must love virtue more than that.