Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right.

If the single man plant himself indomitably on his instincts, and there abide, the huge world will come round to him.

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

Travel is a fools paradise.

I find that the Americans have no passions, they have appetites.

Truth is the property of no individual but is the treasure of all men.

It’s all that the young can do for the old, to shock them and keep them up to date.

I believe that what so saddens the reformer is not his sympathy with his fellows in distress, but, though he be the holiest son of God, is his private ail. Let this be righted, let the spring come to him, the morning rise over his couch, and he will forsake his generous companions without apology.

God screens us evermore from premature ideas.

Republics abound in young civilians who believe that the laws make the city, that grave modifications of the policy and modes of living and employments of the population, that commerce, education and religion may be voted in or out; and that any measure, though it were absurd, may be imposed on a people if only you can get sufficient voices to make it a law. But the wise know that foolish legislation is a rope of sand which perishes in the twisting; that the State must follow and not lead the character and progress of the citizen; that the form of government which prevails is the expression of what cultivation exists in the population which permits it. The law is only a memorandum.

It is generally a feminine eye that first detects the moral deficiencies hidden under the dear deceit of beauty.

We boast our emancipation from many superstitions; but if we have broken any idols, it is through a transfer of idolatry.

Softness has such a power to it. When you choose to soften into something, it relaxes, opens, tension releases. Stuck energy flows like blood coursing through veins, bringing much needed oxygen. Life force and warmth enters, connection is rekindled. Find the trust you need to allow softness in; it really is healing.

Tis admirable to consider, how Powerful the Kings are, yet they move by the Breath of their People.

To hold a pen is to be at war.

It is possible to have a strong self-love without any self-satisfaction, rather with a self-discontent which is the more intense because one’s own little core of egoistic sensibility is a supreme care.

So I became a newspaperman. I hated to do it but I couldnt find honest employment.

Be better. Be better at everything. Be better fathers… Men can be better husbands, which is – be a part of your family’s life. Do the dishes. Don’t babysit your children. You don’t babysit your own children. Be engaged. Don’t just think going to work and coming home makes you a man. Being a father, being engaged, all that stuff is important. Be a better employer. When you are sitting at a seat of power at a table of any kind and you look around you just see you, it’s just you and a bunch of men around a table, on a golf course, making deals, and you allow that to happen, and you’re okay with that – be better.

God hangs the greatest weights upon the smallest wires.

Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so. Aim above morality. Be not simply good;be good for something.All fables, indeed, have their morals; but the innocent enjoy the story. Let nothing come between you and the light. Respect men and brothers only. When you travel to the Celestial City, carry no letter of introduction. When you knock, ask to see God,

I desire no future that will break the ties with the past.