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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Philosopher
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The first and last lesson of religion is, 'The things that are seen are temporal; the things that are not seen are eternal.' It puts an affront upon nature.
From English Traits
No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution; the only wrong is what is against it.
He in whom the love of repose predominates will accept the first creed, the first philosophy, the first political party he meets — most likely his father's. He gets rest, commodity, and reputation; but he shuts the door of truth.
The revelation of thought takes men out of servitude into freedom.
Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.
Hitch your wagon to a star.
It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.
From The Complete Prose Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson
Shallow men believe in luck or in circumstance. Strong men believe in cause and effect.
That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do, not that the nature of the thing has changed but that our power to do has increased.
Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
As long as all that is said is said against me, I feel a certain sublime assurance of success, but as soon as honied words of praise are spoken for me, I feel as one that lies unprotected before his enemies.
From Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1820-1824
Cause and effect, means and ends, seed and fruit, cannot be severed; for the effect already blooms in the cause, the end preexists in the means, the fruit in the seed.
We aim above the mark to hit the mark.
A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.
Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.
I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching.
From Self-Reliance and Other Essays
The selfish man suffers more from his selfishness than he from whom that selfishness withholds some important benefit.
From The Portable Emerson
Imagination is not a talent of some men, but is health of every man.
When a man is pushed, tormented, defeated, he has a chance to learn something.
What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.
It is one of the beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.
Miss Austen’s novels … seem to me vulgar in tone, sterile in artistic invention, imprisoned in the wretched conventions of English society, without genius, wit, or knowledge of the world. Never was life so pinched and narrow. The one problem in the mind of the writer … is marriageableness.
Place yourself in the middle of the stream of power and wisdom which animates all whom it floats, and you are without effort impelled to truth, to right and a perfect contentment.
From Spiritual Laws
Napoleon said of Massena, that he was not himself until the battle began to go against him; then, when the dead began to fall in ranks around him, awoke his powers of combination, and he put on terror and victory as a robe. So it is in rugged crises, in unweariable endurance, and in aims which put sympathy out of question, that the angel is shown.
From Nature, Addresses, and Lectures (Volume I)
The first and last lesson of religion is, 'The things that are seen are temporal; the things that are not seen are eternal.' It puts an affront upon nature.
From English Traits
No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution; the only wrong is what is against it.
He in whom the love of repose predominates will accept the first creed, the first philosophy, the first political party he meets — most likely his father's. He gets rest, commodity, and reputation; but he shuts the door of truth.
The revelation of thought takes men out of servitude into freedom.
Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.
Hitch your wagon to a star.
It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.
From The Complete Prose Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson
Shallow men believe in luck or in circumstance. Strong men believe in cause and effect.
That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do, not that the nature of the thing has changed but that our power to do has increased.
Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
As long as all that is said is said against me, I feel a certain sublime assurance of success, but as soon as honied words of praise are spoken for me, I feel as one that lies unprotected before his enemies.
From Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1820-1824
Cause and effect, means and ends, seed and fruit, cannot be severed; for the effect already blooms in the cause, the end preexists in the means, the fruit in the seed.
We aim above the mark to hit the mark.
A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.
Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.
I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching.
From Self-Reliance and Other Essays
The selfish man suffers more from his selfishness than he from whom that selfishness withholds some important benefit.
From The Portable Emerson
Imagination is not a talent of some men, but is health of every man.
When a man is pushed, tormented, defeated, he has a chance to learn something.
What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.
It is one of the beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.
Miss Austen’s novels … seem to me vulgar in tone, sterile in artistic invention, imprisoned in the wretched conventions of English society, without genius, wit, or knowledge of the world. Never was life so pinched and narrow. The one problem in the mind of the writer … is marriageableness.
Place yourself in the middle of the stream of power and wisdom which animates all whom it floats, and you are without effort impelled to truth, to right and a perfect contentment.
From Spiritual Laws
Napoleon said of Massena, that he was not himself until the battle began to go against him; then, when the dead began to fall in ranks around him, awoke his powers of combination, and he put on terror and victory as a robe. So it is in rugged crises, in unweariable endurance, and in aims which put sympathy out of question, that the angel is shown.
From Nature, Addresses, and Lectures (Volume I)
The first and last lesson of religion is, 'The things that are seen are temporal; the things that are not seen are eternal.' It puts an affront upon nature.
From English Traits
No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution; the only wrong is what is against it.
He in whom the love of repose predominates will accept the first creed, the first philosophy, the first political party he meets — most likely his father's. He gets rest, commodity, and reputation; but he shuts the door of truth.
The revelation of thought takes men out of servitude into freedom.
Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.
Hitch your wagon to a star.
It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.
From The Complete Prose Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson
Shallow men believe in luck or in circumstance. Strong men believe in cause and effect.
That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do, not that the nature of the thing has changed but that our power to do has increased.
Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
As long as all that is said is said against me, I feel a certain sublime assurance of success, but as soon as honied words of praise are spoken for me, I feel as one that lies unprotected before his enemies.
From Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1820-1824
Cause and effect, means and ends, seed and fruit, cannot be severed; for the effect already blooms in the cause, the end preexists in the means, the fruit in the seed.
We aim above the mark to hit the mark.
A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.
Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.
I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching.
From Self-Reliance and Other Essays
The selfish man suffers more from his selfishness than he from whom that selfishness withholds some important benefit.
From The Portable Emerson
Imagination is not a talent of some men, but is health of every man.
When a man is pushed, tormented, defeated, he has a chance to learn something.
What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.
It is one of the beautiful compensations of life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.
Miss Austen’s novels … seem to me vulgar in tone, sterile in artistic invention, imprisoned in the wretched conventions of English society, without genius, wit, or knowledge of the world. Never was life so pinched and narrow. The one problem in the mind of the writer … is marriageableness.
Place yourself in the middle of the stream of power and wisdom which animates all whom it floats, and you are without effort impelled to truth, to right and a perfect contentment.
From Spiritual Laws
Napoleon said of Massena, that he was not himself until the battle began to go against him; then, when the dead began to fall in ranks around him, awoke his powers of combination, and he put on terror and victory as a robe. So it is in rugged crises, in unweariable endurance, and in aims which put sympathy out of question, that the angel is shown.
From Nature, Addresses, and Lectures (Volume I)
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