Ralph Waldo Emerson

I know of no such unquestionable badge and ensign of a sovereign mind as that of tenacity of purpose.

The secret of culture is to learn, that a few great points steadily reappear.

Every man has his own vocation, talent is the call.

Art is a jealous mistress; and if a man have a genius for painting, poetry, music, architecture or philosophy, he makes a bad husband and an ill provider.

A cynic can chill and dishearten with a single word.

Be true to your own act and congratulate yourself if you have done something strange and extravagant to break the monotony of a decorous age.

Do what we can, summer will have its flies.

Perhaps the most delightful friendships are those in which there is much agreement, much disputation, and yet more personal liking.

No two men can be half an hour together but one shall acquire an evident superiority over the other.

In all our contacts it is probably the sense of being really needed and wanted which gives us the greatest satisfaction and creates the most lasting bond.

If you are going through hell, keep going.

If thou art clean and warm, it is sufficient; for more doth but rob the Poor, and please the Wanton.

I’ll tell you why yes, because why people lie is, because when people stop lying you know they’ve stopped caring.

Human beings must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it.

O imitators, you slavish herd!

Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.

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

Where a blood relation sobs, an intimate friend should choke up, a distant acquaintance should sigh, a stranger should merely fumble sympathetically with his handkerchief.

Is not every man sometimes a radical in politics? 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.

The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet.

What is Man? Man is a noisome bacillus whom Our Heavenly Father created because he was disappointed in the monkey.