Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

The years teach much what the days never knew.

The key to the age may be this, or that, or the other, as the young orators describe; the key to all ages is – Imbecility; imbecility in the vast majority of men, at all times, and, even in heroes, in all but certain eminent moments; victims of gravity, custom, and fear.

In the morning a man walks with his whole body; in the evening, only with his legs.

Words are alive; cut them and they bleed.

I do then with my friends as I do with my books. I would have them where I can find them, but I seldom use them.

Ready are you? What know you of ready?

Guilt, regret, resentment, sadness and all forms of nonforgiveness are caused by too much past and not enough presence.

Finish each day before you begin the next, and interpose a solid wall of sleep between the two. This you cannot do without temperance.

There is a difference between being convinced and being stubborn.

He that will not apply new remedies, must expect new evils: for Time is the greatest innovator: and if Time, of course, alter things to the worse, and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the better, what shall be the end?.

A name pronounced is the recognition of the individual to whom it belongs. He who can pronounce my name aright, he can call me, and is entitled to my love and service.

I always feel excited when I can do something that’s about what I believe in.

By all means let’s be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out.

Gazing to the south, from the eastern peak, the moon appears through the raindrops.

Each of us has the right and the responsibility to asses the road which lie ahead and those over which we have traveled, and if the feature road looms ominous or unpromising, and the road back uninviting-inviting, then we need to gather our resolve and carrying only the necessary baggage, step off that road into another direction. If the new choice is also unpalatable, without embarrassment, we must be ready to change that one as well.

The trouble with the world is not that people know too little, but that they know so many things that ain’t so.

Duties are not performed for duty’s sake, but because their neglect would make the man uncomfortable. A man performs but one duty -the duty of contenting his spirit, the duty of making himself agreeable to himself.

And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values, like you work hard for what you want in life. That your word is your bond; that you do what you say you’re going to do. That you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them and even if you don’t agree with them.

Self-trust is the essence of heroism.

People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.