Ralph Waldo Emerson

Universities are of course hostile to geniuses, which, seeing and using ways of their own, discredit the routine: as churches and monasteries persecute youthful saints.

Who shall set a limit to the influence of a human being?

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

All promise outruns performance.

We must set up a strong present tense against all rumors of wrath, past and to come.

If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the new stand side by side, and admit of being compared; when the energies of all men are searched by fear and by hope; when the historic glories of the old can be compensated by the rich possibilities of the new era?

If he really thinks there is no distinction between vice and virtue, when he leaves our houses let us count our spoons.

Martyrdom is the only way a man can become famous without ability.

The worst sin… is… to be indifferent.

When you know better, you do better.

In the multitude of middle-aged men who go about their vocations in a daily course determined for them much in the same way as the tie of their cravats, there is always a good number who once meant to shape their own deeds and alter the world a little.

Young people are fitter to invent than to judge; fitter for execution than for counsel; and more fit for new projects than for settled business.

Statistics show that of those who contract the habit of eating, very few survive.

How much of human life is lost in waiting.

The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.

The best liar is he who makes the smallest amount of lying go the longest way.

Gentle Jesus, meek and mild’ is a snivelling modern invention, with no warrant in the gospels.

You are a constant. Forever in my mind; forever in my heart. It seems that most matter how much I try I can’t get rid of you. You are a thorn, stuck in deep; painful to remove, and even when I do, still I’ll bleed and feel the soreness. It will take time, but it will heal. No matter the pain, I will still dare to pick roses.

It was wonderful to find America, but it would have been more wonderful to miss it.

The joys of parents are secret, and so are their grieves and fears.

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.