Ralph Waldo Emerson

Shall we then judge a country by the majority, or by the minority? By the minority, surely. ‘Tis pedantry to estimate nations by the census, or by square miles of land, or other than by their importance to the mind of the time.

The wise know that foolish legislation is a rope of sand, which perishes in the twisting.

A man is known by the books he reads, by the company he keeps, by the praise he gives, by his dress, by his tastes, by his distastes, by the stories he tells, by his gait, by the notion of his eye, by the look of his house, of his chamber; for nothing on earth is solitary but every thing hath affinities infinite.

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

Of all debts men are least willing to pay the taxes. What a satire is this on government! Everywhere they think they get their moneys worth, except for these.

The mark of the man of the world is absence of pretension. He does not make a speech; he takes a low business-tone, avoids all brag, is nobody, dresses plainly, promises not at all, performs much, speaks in monosyllables, hugs his fact. He calls his employment by its lowest name, and so takes from evil tongues their sharpest weapon. His conversation clings to the weather and the news, yet he allows himself to be surprised into thought, and the unlocking of his learning and philosophy.

The less government we have the better.

We love to overlook the boundaries which we do not wish to pass.

There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.

There is nothing makes a man suspect much, more than to know little, and therefore men should remedy suspicion by procuring to know more, and not keep their suspicions in smother.

If the Almighty were to rebuild the world and asked me for advice, I would have English Channels round every country. And the atmosphere would be such that anything which attempted to fly would be set on fire.

Prudence operates on life in the same manner as rule of composition; it produces vigilance rather than elevation; rather prevents loss than procures advantage; and often miscarriages, but seldom reaches either power or honor.

Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other.

Let the people think they govern and they will be governed.

The endearing elegance of female friendship.

The hour of departure has arrived and we go our ways; I to die, and you to live. Which is better? Only God knows.

A man is a god in ruins.

Courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own.

Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you gain at one end you lose at the other. It’s like feeding a dog on his own tail. It won’t fatten the dog.

The art of government is to make two-thirds of a nation pay all it possibly can pay for the benefit of the other third.

Thus, by every device from the stick to the carrot, the emaciated Austrian donkey is made to pull the Nazi barrow up an ever-steepening hill.