Ralph Waldo Emerson

Give me insight into today and you may have the antique and future worlds.

The hues of the opal, the light of the diamond, are not to be seen if the eye is too near.

Tis a rule of manners to avoid exaggeration.

None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.

One definition of man is an intelligence served by organs.

That which we call character is a reserved force which acts directly by presence, and without means. It is conceived of as a certain undemonstrable force, a familiar or genius, by whose impulses the man is guided, but whose counsels he cannot impart.

The really efficient laborer will be found not to crowd his day with work, but will saunter to his task surrounded by a wide halo of ease and leisure.

Listening to both sides does not necessarily bring about a correct judgment.

By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity. Another man’s, I mean.

I trust no one, not even myself.

When a person cannot deceive himself the chances are against his being able to deceive other people.

Achievement brings its own anticlimax.

Be not the slave of your own past – plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with new self-respect, with new power, and with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.

Without a rich heart, wealth is an ugly beggar.

If you don’t like the weather in New England, just wait a few minutes.

Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued.

The idea of perfection always gives one a chance to talk without knowing facts.

The desire of gold is not for gold. It is for the means of freedom and benefit.

We should come home from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day with new experience and character.

New ideas come into this world somewhat like falling meteors, with a flash and an explosion, and perhaps somebody

What really flatters a man is that you think him worth flattering.