Ralph Waldo Emerson

In every man there is something wherein I may learn of him, and in that I am his pupil.

Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world.

Every man has his own courage, and is betrayed because he seeks in himself the courage of other persons.

In every society some men are born to rule, and some to advise.

Sooner or later that which is now life shall be poetry, and every fair and manly trait shall add a richer strain to the song.

Wisdom has its root in goodness, not goodness its root in wisdom.

It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations. Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations is an admirable work, and I studied it intently. The quotations when engraved upon the memory give you good thoughts. They also make you anxious to read the authors and look for more.

The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace.

The jealous are troublesome to others, but torment to themselves.

The wise man applauds he who he thinks most virtuous; the rest of the world applauds the wealthy.

Nay, be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought.

Men are conservatives when they are least vigorous, or when they are most luxurious. They are conservatives after dinner, or before taking their rest; when they are sick or aged. In the morning, or when their intellect or their conscience has been aroused, when they hear music, or when they read poetry, they are radicals.

Even the youngest of us may be wrong sometimes.

What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.

Pale death with an impartial foot knocks at the hovels of the poor and the palaces of king.

For so many people, TV and movies may be the only way they understand people who aren’t like them. It becomes important for the world to see different images of each other, so that we can develop empathy and understanding.

An apology for the devil: it must be remembered that we have heard one side of the case. God has written all the books.

Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.

A squirrel dying in front of your house may be more relevant to your interests right now than people dying in Africa.

We are just statistics, born to consume resources.

Any emotion, if it is sincere, is involuntary.