Ralph Waldo Emerson

The value of a principle is the number of things it will explain.

Tis the old secret of the gods that they come in low disguises.

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

If man has good corn, or wood, or boards, or pigs to sell, or can make better chairs or knives, crucibles, or church organs, than anybody else, you will find a broad, hard-beaten road to his house, though it be in the woods.

So much of our time is spent in preparation, so much in routine, and so much in retrospect, that the amount of each person’s genius is confined to a very few hours.

There is no luck in literary reputation. They who make up the final verdict upon every book are not the partial and noisy readers of the hour when it appears; but a court as of angels, a public not to be bribed, not to be entreated, and not to be overawed, decides upon every man’s title to fame.

Self-pity in its early stages is as snug as a feather mattress. Only when it hardens does it become uncomfortable.

When I am abroad, I always make it a rule to never criticize or attack the government of my own country. I make up for lost time when I come home.

We are a puny and fickle folk. Avarice, hesitation, and following are our diseases.

Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same.

Men over forty are no judges of a book written in a new spirit.

The poets aim is either to profit or to please, or to blend in one the delightful and the useful. Whatever the lesson you would convey, be brief, that your hearers may catch quickly what is said and faithfully retain it. Every superfluous word is spilled from the too-full memory.

To say that a man is your Friend, means commonly no more than this, that he is not your enemy. Most contemplate only what would be the accidental and trifling advantages of Friendship, as that the Friend can assist in time of need by his substance, or his influence, or his counsel. Even the utmost goodwill and harmony and practical kindness are not sufficient for Friendship, for Friends do not live in harmony merely, as some say, but in melody.

Labor, if it were not necessary for existence, would be indispensable for the happiness of man.

Choose the life that is most useful, and habit will make it the most agreeable.

If you want the time to pass quickly, just give your note for 90 days.

Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read.

If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.

There was never a century nor a country that was short of experts who knew the Deity’s mind and were willing to reveal it.

To act from pure benevolence is not possible for finite human beings, Human benevolence is mingled with vanity, interest, or some other motive.

He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune, for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief. Certainly the best works and of greatest merit for the public have proceeded from the unmarried or childless men, which both in affection and means have married and endowed the public. He was reputed one of the wise men that made answer to the question, when a man should marryA young man not yet, an elder man not at all.