Ralph Waldo Emerson

We aim above the mark to hit the mark.

Men’s actions are too strong for them. Show me a man who has acted, and who has not been the victim and slave of his action.

We have more than we use.

When I was praised I lost my time, for instantly I turned around to look at the work I had thought slightly of, and that day I made nothing new.

Men achieve a certain greatness unawares, when working to another aim.

I find that the Americans have no passions, they have appetites.

A crank is someone with a new idea – until it catches on.

The ancients recommended us to sacrifice to the Graces, but Milton sacrificed to the Devil.

Loyalty to the country always. Loyalty to the government when it deserves it.

There is a hush over all Europe, nay, over all the world. Alas! it is the hush of suspense, and in many lands it is the hush of fear. Listen! No, listen carefully, I think I hear somethingyes, there it was quite clear. Dont you hear it? It is the tramp of armies crunching the gravel of the paradegrounds, splashing through rain-soaked fields, the tramp of two million German soldiers and more than a million Italiansgoing on maneuversyes, only on maneuvers!

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

Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.

Out of love and hatred, out of earnings and borrowings and leadings and losses; out of sickness and pain; out of wooing and worshipping; out of traveling and voting and watching and caring; out of disgrace and contempt, comes our tuition in the serene and beautiful laws.

It’s easier to hold onto your own stereotypes and misconceptions, it makes you feel justified in your own ignorance. That’s America. So the challenge for us is, are we ready for change?

Syllables govern the world.

No comment is a splendid expression. I am using it again and again.

Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.

The early Christian rules of life were not made to last, because the early Christians did not believe that the world itself was going to last.

Beauty surrounds us, but usually we need to be walking in a garden to know it.

Revolutions have never lightened the burden of tyranny: they have only shifted it to another shoulder.

Be true to your work, your word, and your friend.