Ralph Waldo Emerson

The true artist has the planet for his pedestal; the adventurer, after years of strife, has nothing broader than his shoes.

Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors.

A man in debt is so far a slave.

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God’s handwriting – a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.

There are three wants which never can be satisfied: that of the rich, who wants something more; that of the sick, who wants something different; and that of the traveler, who says, Anywhere but here.

What ever the motive for the insult, it is always best to overlook it; for folly doesn’t deserve resentment, and malice is punished by neglect.

No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown.

The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane.

Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last.

To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.

The man who lets himself be bored is even more contemptible than the bore.

Go fish and hunt far and wide day by day – farther and wider – and rest thee by many brooks and hearth-sides without misgiving. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth. Rise free from care before the dawn, and seek adventures. Let the noon find thee by other lakes, and the night overtake thee everywhere at home. There are no larger fields than these, no worthier games than may here be played.

Try, try, try, and keep on trying is the rule that must be followed to become an expert in anything.

Personally, I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.

The wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but for deliverance from fear.

The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.

Europe extends to the Alleghenies; America lies beyond.

Suppose the world were only one of God’s jokes, would you work any the less to make it a good joke instead of a bad one?

Think with your whole body.

Some people wave their dogmatic thinking until their own reason is entangled.