Ralph Waldo Emerson

Commit a crime, and the earth is made of glass.

The desire of gold is not for gold. It is for the means of freedom and benefit.

Books are the best of things if well used; if abused, among the worst. They are good for nothing but to inspire. I had better never see a book than be warped by its attraction clean out of my own orbit, and made a satellite instead of a system.

What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.

Truth is beautiful, without doubt; but so are lies.

Culture is one thing and varnish is another.

Grow old along with me; the best is yet to be.

It is better to be a young June-bug than an old bird of paradise.

I really do not see much use in exalting the humble and meek; they do not remain humble and meek long when they are exalted.

All misfortune is but a stepping stone to fortune.

Flow with whatever may happen, and let your mind be free: Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.

You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.

He that hath knowledge spareth his words.

The disgrace of others often keeps tender minds from vice.

Stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths on the radio and television and the Internet. To hell with them. They don’t want anything done for the public good. Our incapacity is their livelihood

The basis of good manners is self-reliance.

It is possible to have a strong self-love without any self-satisfaction, rather with a self-discontent which is the more intense because one’s own little core of egoistic sensibility is a supreme care.

All good things are cheap: all bad are very dear.

Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others?

Croesus said to Cambyses; That peace was better than war; because in peace the sons did bury their fathers, but in wars the fathers did bury their sons.

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.