Ralph Waldo Emerson

Men achieve a certain greatness unawares, when working to another aim.

The eloquent man is he who is no eloquent speaker, but who is inwardly drunk with a certain belief.

Only an inventor knows how to borrow, and every man is or should be an inventor.

The only thing grief as taught me is to know how shallow it is.

Tis a rule of manners to avoid exaggeration.

Classic art was the art of necessity: modern romantic art bears the stamp of caprice and chance.

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

Great feelings will often take the aspect of error, and great faith the aspect of illusion.

There is no such thing as the Queen’s English. The property has gone into the hands of a joint stock company and we own the bulk of the shares!

And certainly, the mistakes that we male and female mortals make when we have our own way might fairly raise some wonder that we are so fond of it.

It is of no consequence of what parents a man is born, as long as he be a man of merit.

Oh man! There is no planet sun or star could hold you, if you but knew what you are.

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

To be great is to be misunderstood.

Not even the Devil can call a woman “Slut” if he is not able to make her fall in love.

When you’ve got them by their wallets, their hearts and minds will follow.

As men’s prayers are a disease of the will, so are their creeds a disease of the intellect.

What really flatters a man is that you think him worth flattering.

Lies are sufficient to breed opinion, and opinion brings on substance.

The Artist is he who detects and applies the law from observation of the works of Genius, whether of man or Nature. The Artisan is he who merely applies the rules which others have detected.

We are as much informed of a writer’s genius by what he selects as by what he originates.