Ralph Waldo Emerson

An empire is an immense egotism.

It is a lesson which all history teaches wise men, to put trust in ideas, and not in circumstances.

Tis a superstition to insist on a special diet. All is made at last of the same chemical atoms.

Children are all foreigners.

Knowledge exists to be imparted.

If the single man plant himself indomitably on his instincts, and there abide, the huge world will come round to him.

To be, or not to be; that is the bare bodkin That makes calamity of so long life;

Recognize the ego for what it is: a collective dysfunction, the insanity of the human mind.

Discern of the coming on of years, and think not to do the same things still; for age will not be defied.

Self-command is the main discipline.

Boldness is ever blind, for it sees not dangers and inconveniences whence it is bad in council though good in execution.

Look before you leap for as you sow, ye are like to reap.

He that has more knowledge than judgment, is made for another man’s use more than his own.

We cannot well do without our sins; they are the highway of our virtue.

We are ashamed of our thoughts and often see them brought forth by others.

It is not he who gains the exact point in dispute who scores most in controversy – but he who has shown the better temper.

I believe that what so saddens the reformer is not his sympathy with his fellows in distress, but, though he be the holiest son of God, is his private ail. Let this be righted, let the spring come to him, the morning rise over his couch, and he will forsake his generous companions without apology.

There is a difference between happiness and wisdom: he that thinks himself the happiest man is really so; but he that thinks himself the wisest is generally the greatest fool.

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.

Don’t seek, don’t search, don’t ask, don’t knock, don’t demand — relax!

He is useless on top of the ground; he ought to be under it, inspiring the cabbages.