Ralph Waldo Emerson

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.

All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients.

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.

Tis the good reader that makes the good book.

Of all debts men are least willing to pay the taxes. What a satire is this on government! Everywhere they think they get their moneys worth, except for these.

Truth is beautiful, without doubt; but so are lies.

You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity.

Of all God’s creatures there is only one that cannot be made the slave of the lash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with a cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat.

To different minds, the same world is a hell, and a heaven.

Our humanity comes to its fullest bloom in giving. We become beautiful people when we give whatever we can give: a smile, a handshake, a kiss, an embrace, a word of love, a present, a part of our life…all of our life.

Events tend to recur in cycles…

If man had created man, he would be ashamed of his performance.

Ordinary people seem not to realize that those who really apply themselves in the right way to philosophy are directly and of their own accord preparing themselves for dying and death.

Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits.

If you and I are having a single thought of violence or hatred against anyone in the world at this moment, we are contributing to the wounding of the world.

To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. Every man is tasked to make his life, even in its details, worthy of the contemplation of his most elevated and critical hour.

Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.

It is impossible for a man to be cheated by anyone but himself.

The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.

The correlative to loving our neighbors as ourselves is hating ourselves as we hate our neighbors.

One of the most attractive things about the flowers is their beautiful reserve.