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.'

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
The only gift is the portion of thyself. Ralph Waldo Emerson
We do not quite forgive a giver. The hand that feeds us is in some danger of being bitten. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen. Ralph Waldo Emerson
A person is what he or she thinks about all day long. Ralph Waldo Emerson
All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Win as if you were used to it, lose as if you enjoyed it for a change. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood. Ralph Waldo Emerson
You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late. 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
Peace has victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them. Ralph Waldo Emerson
When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The good lawyer is not the man who has an eye to every side and angle of contingency, and qualifies all his qualifications, but who throws himself on your part so heartily, that he can get you out of a scrape. Ralph Waldo Emerson
By persisting in your path, though you forfeit the little, you gain the great. Ralph Waldo Emerson
History is the action and reaction of these two, nature and thought. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Artists... like bees, they must put their lives into the sting they give. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons. Ralph Waldo Emerson
I trust a good deal to common fame, as we all must. Ralph Waldo Emerson
I know and see too well, when not voluntarily blind, the speedy limits of persons called high and worthy. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Every roof is agreeable to the eye, until it is lifted, then we find tragedy and moaning women, and hard-eyed husbands. Ralph Waldo Emerson
It is one of the most beautiful conversations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself...Serve and thou shall be served. If you love and serve men, you cannot, by any hiding or stratagem, escape the remuneration. Ralph Waldo Emerson
A man of a strong affinity for facts is thoroughly persuaded of the truths of arithmetic. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Speak what you think today in hard words and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradicts everything you said today. Ralph Waldo Emerson
America is another name for opportunity. Our whole history appears like a last effort of divine providence on behalf of the human race. Ralph Waldo Emerson
A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer. Ralph Waldo Emerson
I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty. In the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in streets or villages. In the tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Nature is the vehicle of thought, and in a simple, double, and threefold degree. Ralph Waldo Emerson
A rule of one art, or a law of organization, holds true throughout nature. Ralph Waldo Emerson
It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air. Ralph Waldo Emerson