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.'

Let there be worse cotton and better men. Ralph Waldo Emerson
In every society some men are born to rule, and some to advise. Ralph Waldo Emerson
It is the fault of our rhetoric that we cannot strongly state one fact without seeming to belie some other. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The cure for false theology is motherwit. Forget your books and traditions, and obey your moral perceptions at this hour. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The vulgar call good fortune that which really is produced by the calculations of genius. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The torments of martyrdom are probably most keenly felt by the bystanders. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The age of puberty is a crisis in the age of man worth studying. It is the passage from the unconscious to the conscious; from thesleep of passions to their rage. Ralph Waldo Emerson
We aim above the mark to hit the mark. Ralph Waldo Emerson
To aim to convert a man by miracles is a profanation of the soul. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The ancestor of every action is a thought. Ralph Waldo Emerson
All infractions of love and equity in our social relations are ... punished by fear. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Accuracy is essential to beauty. Ralph Waldo Emerson
To finish the moment, to find the journey's end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Wit makes its own welcome, and levels all distinctions. Ralph Waldo Emerson
A man often pays dear for a small frugality. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The scholar is the delegated intellect. In the right state he is Man Thinking Ralph Waldo Emerson
Mankind have such a deep stake in inward illumination, that there is much to be said by the hermit or monk in defence of his life of thought and prayer. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The first farmer was the first man, and all historic nobility rests on possession and use of land. Ralph Waldo Emerson
If a man owns land, the land owns him. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Each man is a hero and an oracle to somebody. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Enlarge not thy destiny, said the oracle: endeavor not to do more than is given thee in charge. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Thought dissolves the material universe by carrying the mind up into a sphere where all is plastic. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Life is short, but there is always time enough for courtesy. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Let us take our bloated nothingness out of the path of the divine circuits. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The vocabulary of an omniscient man would embrace words and images excluded from polite conversation. What would be base, or even obscene, to the obscene, becomes illustrious, spoken in a new connexion of thought. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Every man has his own vocation, talent is the call. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The reverence for the deeds of our ancestors is a treacherous sentiment. Their merit was not to reverence the old, but to honor the present moment; and we falsely make them excuses of the very habit which they hated and defied. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The reverence for the Scriptures is an element of civilization, for thus has the history of the world been preserved, and is preserved. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Throw a stone into the stream and the ripples that propagate themselves are the beautiful type of all influence. Ralph Waldo Emerson
When the vain speaker has sat down, and the people say 'what a good speech,' it still takes an ounce to balance an ounce. Ralph Waldo Emerson