Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

We estimate the wisdom of nations by seeing what they did with their surplus capital.

The pest of society are the egotist, they are dull and bright, sacred and profane, course and fine. It is a disease that like the flu falls on all constitutions.

People wish to be settled. It is only as far as they are unsettled that there is any hope for them.

The worst of charity is that the lives you are asked to preserve are not worth preserving.

Riding a horse is not a gentle hobby, to be picked up and laid down like a game of solitaire. It is a grand passion. It seizes a person whole and once it has done so, he/she will have to accept that his life will be radically changed.

If the desire to kill and the opportunity to kill came always together, who would escape hanging?

In labouring to be concise, I become obscure.

Women are like tea bags. You never know how strong they are until they are in hot water.

Only an inventor knows how to borrow, and every man is or should be an inventor.

We may not pay Satan reverence, for that would be indiscreet, but we can at least respect his talents.

We are rich only through what we give, and poor only through what we refuse.

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.

What sort of philosophers are we, who know absolutely nothing about the origin and destiny of cats?

To succeed in the other trades, capacity must be shown; in the law, concealment of it will do.

There is a time when a man distinguishes the idea of felicity from the idea of wealth; it is the beginning of wisdom.

Wake up, lift your head, open your eyes, and dream. Gaze softly into your heart’s whispers. Notice the pull of your belly and that which makes you come alive. Let your soul speak, beckoning you to embark on that one voyage you can no longer let lie.

The secret source of humor is not joy but sorrow; there is no humor in Heaven.

All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients.

The measure of a great leader, is their success in bringing everyone around to their opinion twenty years later.

Don’t part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.