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Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

Philosopher

Ralph Waldo Emerson, a central figure in the American Transcendentalist movement, celebrated individualism, self-reliance, and the power of nature and intuition. His quotes reflect his profound insights on personal growth, moral courage, and the pursuit of a meaningful life. Together, they offer timeless inspiration to think independently, embrace one’s potential, and live with integrity and purpose.

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Be yourself; no base imitator of another, but your best self. There is something which you can do better than another. Listen to the inward voice and bravely obey that. Do the things at which you are great, not what you were never made for.
From Self-Reliance and Other Essays
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The reward of a thing well done is having done it.
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A beautiful woman is a practical poet, taming her savage mate, planting tenderness, hope and eloquence in all whom she approaches.
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If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God.
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Crime and punishment grow out of one stem. Punishment is a fruit that unsuspected ripens within the flower of the pleasure which concealed it. 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.
From Self-Reliance: An Excerpt from Collected Essays, First Series
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Everybody we know surrounds himself with a fine house, fine books, conservatory, gardens, equipage, and all manner of toys, as screens to interpose between himself and his guest. Does it not seem as if man was of a very sly, elusive nature, and dreaded nothing so much as a full rencontre front to front with his fellow?
From Essays on Manners, Self-Reliance, Compensation, Nature, Friendship
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Man is timid and apologetic; he is no longer upright; he dares not say "I think," "I am," but quotes some saint or safe.
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The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.
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Make the most of yourself....for that is all there is of you.
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Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
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God will not have his work made manifest by cowards
From Self-Reliance: An Excerpt from Collected Essays, First Series
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Be an opener of doors
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As men's prayers are a disease of the will, so are their creeds a disease of the intellect.
From Self-Reliance: An Excerpt from Collected Essays, First Series
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Let me admonish you, first of all, to go alone; to refuse the good models, even those most sacred in the imagination of men, and dare to love God without mediator or veil.
From Divinity School Address
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The crowning fortune of a man is to be born to some pursuit which finds him employment and happiness, whether it be to make baskets, or broadswords, or canals, or statues, or songs.
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Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
From Journals Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, With Annotations - 1841-1844
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Imitation is suicide.
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Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.
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Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
From Emerson in His Journals
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None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.
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Self-trust is the first secret of success.
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Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing do it with all your might. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your objective.
~
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All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.
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A sect or party is an elegant incognito devised to save a man from the vexation of thinking.
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Be yourself; no base imitator of another, but your best self. There is something which you can do better than another. Listen to the inward voice and bravely obey that. Do the things at which you are great, not what you were never made for.
From Self-Reliance and Other Essays
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
The reward of a thing well done is having done it.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
A beautiful woman is a practical poet, taming her savage mate, planting tenderness, hope and eloquence in all whom she approaches.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Crime and punishment grow out of one stem. Punishment is a fruit that unsuspected ripens within the flower of the pleasure which concealed it. 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.
From Self-Reliance: An Excerpt from Collected Essays, First Series
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Everybody we know surrounds himself with a fine house, fine books, conservatory, gardens, equipage, and all manner of toys, as screens to interpose between himself and his guest. Does it not seem as if man was of a very sly, elusive nature, and dreaded nothing so much as a full rencontre front to front with his fellow?
From Essays on Manners, Self-Reliance, Compensation, Nature, Friendship
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Man is timid and apologetic; he is no longer upright; he dares not say "I think," "I am," but quotes some saint or safe.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Make the most of yourself....for that is all there is of you.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
God will not have his work made manifest by cowards
From Self-Reliance: An Excerpt from Collected Essays, First Series
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Be an opener of doors
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
As men's prayers are a disease of the will, so are their creeds a disease of the intellect.
From Self-Reliance: An Excerpt from Collected Essays, First Series
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Let me admonish you, first of all, to go alone; to refuse the good models, even those most sacred in the imagination of men, and dare to love God without mediator or veil.
From Divinity School Address
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
The crowning fortune of a man is to be born to some pursuit which finds him employment and happiness, whether it be to make baskets, or broadswords, or canals, or statues, or songs.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
From Journals Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, With Annotations - 1841-1844
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Imitation is suicide.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
From Emerson in His Journals
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Self-trust is the first secret of success.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing do it with all your might. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your objective.
~
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
A sect or party is an elegant incognito devised to save a man from the vexation of thinking.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Be yourself; no base imitator of another, but your best self. There is something which you can do better than another. Listen to the inward voice and bravely obey that. Do the things at which you are great, not what you were never made for.
From Self-Reliance and Other Essays
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
The reward of a thing well done is having done it.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
A beautiful woman is a practical poet, taming her savage mate, planting tenderness, hope and eloquence in all whom she approaches.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Crime and punishment grow out of one stem. Punishment is a fruit that unsuspected ripens within the flower of the pleasure which concealed it. 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.
From Self-Reliance: An Excerpt from Collected Essays, First Series
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Everybody we know surrounds himself with a fine house, fine books, conservatory, gardens, equipage, and all manner of toys, as screens to interpose between himself and his guest. Does it not seem as if man was of a very sly, elusive nature, and dreaded nothing so much as a full rencontre front to front with his fellow?
From Essays on Manners, Self-Reliance, Compensation, Nature, Friendship
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Man is timid and apologetic; he is no longer upright; he dares not say "I think," "I am," but quotes some saint or safe.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Make the most of yourself....for that is all there is of you.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
God will not have his work made manifest by cowards
From Self-Reliance: An Excerpt from Collected Essays, First Series
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Be an opener of doors
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
As men's prayers are a disease of the will, so are their creeds a disease of the intellect.
From Self-Reliance: An Excerpt from Collected Essays, First Series
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Let me admonish you, first of all, to go alone; to refuse the good models, even those most sacred in the imagination of men, and dare to love God without mediator or veil.
From Divinity School Address
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
The crowning fortune of a man is to be born to some pursuit which finds him employment and happiness, whether it be to make baskets, or broadswords, or canals, or statues, or songs.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
From Journals Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, With Annotations - 1841-1844
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Imitation is suicide.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
From Emerson in His Journals
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Self-trust is the first secret of success.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing do it with all your might. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your objective.
~
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
A sect or party is an elegant incognito devised to save a man from the vexation of thinking.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
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