Ralph Waldo Emerson

Trust your instinct to the end, though you can render no reason.

Do not tell me of my obligation to put all poor men in good situations. Are they my poor? I tell thee, thou foolish philanthropist, that I grudge the dollar, the dime, the cent, I give to such men as do not belong to me and to whom I do not belong.

Nothing astonishes people so much as common sense and plain dealing.

The greatest gift is a portion of thyself.

Be not the slave of your own past – plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with new self-respect, with new power, and with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.

The end of life is to be like God, and the soul following God will be like Him.

Men talk as if victory were something fortunate. Work is victory.

Fame must have enemies, as light must have gnats.

Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.

If we win, nobody will care. If we lose, there will be nobody to care.

Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other.

Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but religiously follows the new.

What could we accomplish if we knew we could not fail?

People who use time wisely spend it on activities that advance their overall purpose in life.

I will never do this, says one, yet does it: I am resolved to do this, says another; but flags upon second Thoughts: Or does it, tho’ awkwardly, for his Word’s sake: As if it were worse to break his Word, than to do amiss in keeping it.

When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.

When the water of a place is bad it is safest to drink none that has not been filtered through either the berry of a grape, or else a tub of malt. These are the most reliable filters yet invented.

Every revolution was first a thought in one man’s mind.

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.

What a good thing Adam had. When he said a good thing, he knew nobody had said it before.