Ralph Waldo Emerson Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes, Ralph Waldo Emerson sayings, and Ralph Waldo Emerson proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.'

A scholar is a candle which the love and desire of all men will light. Ralph Waldo Emerson
A scholar does not wish to be always pumping his brains; he wants gossips. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Do you know the secret of the true scholar? In every man there is something wherein I may learn of him; and in that I am his pupil. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Books are the best of things, well used; abused, among the worst...They are for nothing but to inspire. Ralph Waldo Emerson
People with great gifts are easy to find, but symmetrical and balanced ones never. Ralph Waldo Emerson
We do not live an equal life, but one of contrasts and patchwork; now a little joy, then a sorrow, now a sin, then a generous or brave action. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The world is full of judgment-days, and into every assembly that a man enters, in every action he attempts, he is gauged and stamped. Ralph Waldo Emerson
One of the illusions of life is that the present hour is not the critical, decisive hour. Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. No man has learned anything rightly, until he knows that every day is Doomsday. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Any relation to the land, the habit of tilling it, or mining it, or even hunting on it, generates the feeling of patriotism. He who keeps shop on it, or he who merely uses it as a support to his desk and ledger, or to his manufactory, values it less. Ralph Waldo Emerson
We dare not trust our wit for making our house pleasant to our friend, so we buy ice cream. Ralph Waldo Emerson
It is always so pleasant to be generous, though very vexatious to pay debts Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ever the words of the gods resound; But the porches of man's ear seldom in this low life's round are unsealed, that he may hear. Ralph Waldo Emerson
It makes a great difference in the force of a sentence, whether a man be behind it or no. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The sentence must also contain its own apology for being spoken. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The April winds are magical, And thrill our tuneful frames; The garden-walks are passional To bachelors and dames. Ralph Waldo Emerson
As soon as a child has left the room his strewn toys become affecting. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Some men are born to own; can animate all their possessions. Others cannot; Their owning is not graceful; seems to be a compromise of their character; they seem to steal their own dividends. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Nothing is a last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Ralph Waldo Emerson
In every society some men are born to rule, and some to advise. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Every materialist will be an idealist; but an idealist can never go backward to be a materialist. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Silence is a solvent that destroys personality, and gives us leave to be great and universal. Ralph Waldo Emerson
A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise shall give him no peace. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The mob is man voluntarily descending to the nature of the beast. Ralph Waldo Emerson
A great man is always willing to be little. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Men love to wonder and that is the seed of our science. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The wonder is always new that any sane man can be a sailor Ralph Waldo Emerson
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The way to mend the bad world is to create the right world. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it. Ralph Waldo Emerson