Ralph Waldo Emerson

Only poetry inspires poetry.

The hearing ear is always found close to the speaking tongue; and no genius can long or often utter anything which is not invited and gladly entertained by men around him.

A man is known by the books he reads, by the company he keeps, by the praise he gives, by his dress, by his tastes, by his distastes, by the stories he tells, by his gait, by the notion of his eye, by the look of his house, of his chamber; for nothing on earth is solitary but every thing hath affinities infinite.

So far as a person thinks; they are free.

Society is a hospital of incurables.

Travel is a fools paradise.

Exploring the mysteries of myself and the world. Sensual, powerful, wise… on my path…

Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom.

Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.

If a man sits down to think, he is immediately asked if has a headache.

Perpetual modernness is the measure of merit in every work of art.

Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.

It is reasonable to have perfection in our eye that we may always advance toward it, though we know it can never be reached.

Men are seldom more commonplace than on supreme occasions.

Power doesn’t corrupt people; people corrupt power.

Ignorant kindness may have the effect of cruelty; but to be angry with it as if it were direct cruelty would be an ignorant unkindness.

Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.

Better is the enemy of good.

Go fish and hunt far and wide day by day – farther and wider – and rest thee by many brooks and hearth-sides without misgiving. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth. Rise free from care before the dawn, and seek adventures. Let the noon find thee by other lakes, and the night overtake thee everywhere at home. There are no larger fields than these, no worthier games than may here be played.

Happiness is a perfume which you cannot pour on someone without getting some on yourself.

All that appears is devoid of independent existence, just like a magical apparition or a dream.