Quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson

The wise man in the storm prays God, not for safety from danger, but for deliverance from fear. It is the storm within which endangers him, not the storm without.

My life is not an apology, but a life.

I question the value of our civilization when I see that our public representatives have lost hold of the simplest, strongest truths. Nothing demonstrates the emptiness of a person's mind more than putting party loyalty above principle.

A materialist would argue that I'm a product of my circumstances. But I make my own circumstances. If I make a change in my dominant thoughts or motives, a change in my situation and surroundings will soon follow. Through my actions, I attract people and situations to match my mentality. As I am, so I act; and as I act, so I attract.

In every man there is something wherein I may learn of him, and in that I am his pupil

their creeds a disease of the intellect.

The laws of friendship are great, austere, and eternal, of one web with the laws of nature and of morals.

What is the soul? Commonly, it's defined as an immortal spirit placed inside each person's body by God. But Emerson had a very different understanding. For Emerson, the soul encompasses both mind and heart. It's the ruler of the mind and emotions. The soul

do not wish to treat friendships daintily, but with roughest courage. When they are real, they are not glass threads or frost-work, but the solidest thing we know.

We countenance each other in this life of show, puffing, 17 SUCCESS advertisement and manufacture of public opinion; and excellence is lost sight of in the hunger for sudden performance and praise.

I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I've eaten; even so, they have made me.

La persona debería aprender a detectar y observar ese destello de luz que atraviesa su mente desde adentro, más que el realce del firmamento de los bardos y sabios. Sin embargo, la persona desecha su propio pensamiento sin tomarlo en cuenta, porque es suyo.

The soul raised over passion beholds identity and eternal causation, perceives the self-existence of Truth and Right, and calms itself with knowing that all things go well.

Jedním z nejkrásnÄ›jÅ¡ích zadostiu?inÄ›ní v životÄ› je, že kdykoli se upÃ…â"¢ímnÄ› snažíme pomoci jinému, pomáháme i sami sobÄ›.

The truest test of civilization is not the census, size of cities, or crops; but the kind of man the country turns out.

An enraged man is a lion, a cunning man is a fox, a firm man is a rock, a learned man is a torch.

Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain

He who should inspire and lead his race must be defended from travelling with the souls of other men, from living, breathing, reading, and writing in the daily, time-worn yoke of their opinions.

Nature magically suits the man to his fortunes, by making these the fruit of his character.

Transcendentalists believe that our minds are always open to a new inflowing of light and power from the Source. This is called inspiration.

Noblesse oblige; or, superior advantages bind you to larger generosity.

Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why should not we have a

Transcendentalists have been accused of being rebels and rule-breakers. But if they disregard society's customs and laws, it's because they're listening to conscience and obeying the Law Maker within. There are situations where virtue asks us to break the rules.

Inspiring passion and action—this is the test of true preaching. True preaching is practical—concerned with day-to-day living in light of the soul. It's focus is not on the distant past or an imaginary future, but on the here and now.