Ralph Waldo Emerson

Every thought which genius and piety throw into the world alters the world.

People with great gifts are easy to find, but symmetrical and balanced ones never.

Wouldst thou shut up the avenues of ill, Pay every debt as if God wrote the bill.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.

There is a tendency for things to right themselves.

Enthusiasm is the mother of effort, and without it nothing great was ever achieved.

No man is much regarded by the rest of the world. He that considers how little he dwells upon the condition of others, will learn how little the attention of others is attracted by himself. While we see multitudes passing before us, of whom perhaps not one appears to deserve our notice or excites our sympathy, we should remember, that we likewise are lost in the same throng, that the eye which happens to glance upon us is turned in a moment on him that follows us, and that the utmost which we can reasonably hope or fear is to fill a vacant hour with prattle, and be forgotten.

I do not mind lying, but I hate inaccuracy.

Nothing is ever accomplished by a reasonable man.

Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.

He is rich who is content with the least; for contentment is the wealth of nature.

Human life is as evanescent as the morning dew or a flash of lightning.

The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.

Life will not bear refinement. You must do as other people do.

Build a system that even a fool can use, and only a fool will want to use it.

Courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own.

I cannot pretend to feel impartial about colors. I rejoice with the brilliant ones and am genuinely sorry for the poor browns.

You who write, choose a subject suited to your abilities and think long and hard on what your powers are equal to and what they are unable to perform.

The person is a poor judge who by an action can be disgraced more in failing than they can be honored in succeeding.

Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.

The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it cannot be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.