Ralph Waldo Emerson

Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.

The power which resides in man is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried.

How much of human life is lost in waiting.

The search after the great men is the dream of youth, and the most serious occupation of manhood.

We have more than we use.

Want is a growing giant whom the coat of Have was never large enough to cover.

The essence of greatness is the perception that virtue is enough.

A great man stands on God. A small man on a great man.

There are a lot of people who lie and get away with it, and that’s just a fact.

A private Life is to be preferred; the Honor and Gain of publick Posts, bearing no proportion with the Comfort of it

Excellence encourages one about life generally; it shows the spiritual wealth of the world.

In peace, as a wise man, he should make suitable preparation for war.

I would rather have my ignorance than another man’s knowledge, because I have so much of it.

The most I can do for my friend is simply be his friend.

Usually the modest person passes for someone reserved, the silent for a sullen person.

Men are wise in proportion, not to their experience, but to their capacity for experience.

Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker upon the planet. Then all things are at risk.

If you would lift me up you must be on higher ground.

I hate a fellow whom pride, or cowardice, or laziness drives into a corner, and who does nothing when he is there but sit and growl; let him come out as I do, and bark.

A chief event of life is the day in which we have encountered a mind that startled us.

There are minds so impatient of inferiority that their gratitude is a species of revenge, and they return benefits not because recompense is a pleasure for them, but because obligation is a pain.