Ralph Waldo Emerson

The pest of society are the egotist, they are dull and bright, sacred and profane, course and fine. It is a disease that like the flu falls on all constitutions.

The city is recruited from the country.

Life is a perpetual instruction in cause and effect.

Belief consists in accepting the affirmations of the soul; unbelief, in denying them.

A few strong instincts and a few plain rules suffice us.

We are reformers in the spring and summer, but in autumn we stand by the old. Reformers in the morning, and conservers at night.

There is a great deal of human nature in people.

We do not quite forgive a giver. The hand that feeds us is in some danger of being bitten.

Pure and complete sorrow is as impossible as pure and complete joy.

A perpetual holiday is a good working definition of hell.

There is a wisdom in this beyond the rules of physic: a man’s own observation what he finds good of and what he finds hurt of is the best physic to preserve health.

By his father he is English, by his mother he is Americanto my mind the blend which makes the perfect man.

Energy doesn’t lie so trust those vibes you’re getting.

A beautiful form is better than a beautiful face; it gives a higher pleasure than statues or pictures; it is the finest of the fine arts.

You have to accept whatever comes, and the only important thing is that you meet it with the best you have to give.

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.

He presents me with what is always an acceptable gift who brings me news of a great thought before unknown. He enriches me without impoverishing himself.

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

Judge of your natural character by what you do in your dreams.

To arrive at a just estimate of a renowned man’s character one must judge it by the standards of his time, not ours.

Only a stomach that rarely feels hungry scorns common things.