Ralph waldo emerson quotes

Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing.

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety. Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in. Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays.

Do what you fear and your fear will die.

For each thorn, there's a rosebud... For each twilight - a dawn... For each trial - the strength to carry on, For each storm cloud - a rainbow... For each shadow - the sun... For each parting - sweet memories when sorrow is done.

Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes.

All I have seen teaches me to trust the creator for all I have not seen.

The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.

Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force - that thoughts rule the world.

Successful is the person who has lived well, laughed often and loved much, who has gained the respect of children, who leaves the world better than they found it, who has never lacked appreciation for the earth's beauty, who never fails to look for the best in others or give the best of themselves.

When a happy person comes into the room, it is as if another candle has been lit.

Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.

Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it

The only way to have a friend is to be one.

When it is dark enough, men see the stars.

The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood. His intercourse with heaven and earth, becomes part of his daily food. In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows.

What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.

Successful people live well, laugh often, and love much. They've filled a niche and accomplished tasks so as to leave the world better than they found it, while looking for the best in others, and giving the best they have.

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

It takes a good deal of character to judge a person by his future instead of his past

Men succeed when they realize that their failures are the preparation for their victories.

A house is made with walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams.

What is the hardest task in the world? To think.

Don't be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.

Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.

We judge others by their actions but we judge ourselves by our intensions.

One idea lights a thousand candles.

Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.

The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going

People destined to meet will do so, apparently by chance, at precisely the right moment.

The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.

I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives.

Neither you nor the world knows what you can do until you have tried.

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Learn from it... tomorrow is a new day.

Stay at home in your mind. Don't recite other people's opinions.

For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind.

A friend is a person who goes around saying nice things about you behind your back.

Allow yourself to trust joy and embrace it. You will find you dance with everything.

Live well, learn plenty, laugh often, love much.

God will not have his work made manifest by cowards. Always, always, always, always, always do what you are afraid to do. Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.

Sorrow looks back, Worry looks around, Faith looks up

We don't grow old. When we cease to grow, we become old.

Each of us sees in others what we carry in our own hearts.

Character is higher than intellect... A great soul will be strong to live, as well as strong to think.

Continual failure is a road to success - if you have the strength to go on.

The love that you withhold is the pain that you carry.

The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.

Don't choose the better person, choose the person who makes a better you.

Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.

Before we acquire great power we must acquire wisdom to use it well.

Research is not seeing what others do not see, it is seeing the same thing as other people and thinking what they do not.

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.

If you want to be great and successful, choose people who are great and successful and walk side by side with them.

He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.

Don't waste life in doubts and fears; spend yourself on the work before you, well assured that the right performance of this hour's duties will be the best preparation for the hours and ages that will follow it.

Perception is a mirror not a fact. And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward.

Knowledge is when you learn something new every day. Wisdom is when you let something go every day.

People only see what they are prepared to see.

When a man becomes a conformist, he is sacrificing the richness of independent thinking.

Hidden away in the inner nature of the real man is the law of his life, and someday he will discover it and consciously make use of it. He will heal himself, make himself happy and prosperous, and life in an entirely different world. For he will have discovered that life is from within and not from without.

The measure of mental health is the disposition to find good everywhere.

Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.

The world is plentiful with honey, but only the humble bee can collect it.

Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.

Nothing external to you has any power over you.

The years in your life are less important than the life in your years.

Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.

Anger is that powerful internal force that blows out the light of reason.

None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.

Win as if you were used to it, lose as if you enjoyed it for a change.

People only see what they are prepared to see. If you look for what is good and what you can be grateful for you will find it everywhere.

The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.

To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty.

Always do what you are afraid to do.

Every wall is a door.

People are very inclined to set moral standards for others.

Eyes...They speak all languages.

People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.

Without a rich heart, wealth is an ugly beggar.

Your actions speak so loud, I can't hear what you say.

This is my wish for you: Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so that you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth, Love to complete your life.

Our strength grows out of our weakness.

To get up each morning with the resolve to be happy is to set your own conditions to the events of each day. To do this is to condition circumstances instead of being conditioned by them.

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.

Lose yourself in nature and find peace

We see the world piece by piece, as the sun, the moon, the animal, the tree; but the whole, of which these are shining parts, is the soul.

The wise man in the storm prays God not for safety from danger but for deliverance from fear. It is the storm within which endangers him[,] not the storm without.

The days come and go but they say nothing, and if we do not use the gifts they bring, they carry them as silently away.

Men are what their mothers made them.

Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little coarse and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice? Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble.

I suffer whenever I see that common sight of a parent or senior imposing his opinion and way of thinking and being on a young soul to which they are totally unfit. Cannot we let people be themselves, and enjoy life in their own way? You are trying to make that man another you. One's enough.

The only thing that can grow is the thing you give energy to.

The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.

Insist upon yourself. Be original.

The civility of no race can be perfect whilst another race is degraded. It is a doctrine alike of the oldest and of the newest philosophy, that man is one, and that you cannot injure any member, without a sympathetic injury to all the members

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.

It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.

Freedom is not the right to do as you please, but the liberty to do as you should.

The good news is that the moment you decide that what you know is more important than what you have been taught to believe, you will have shifted gears in your quest for abundance. Success comes from within, not from without.

The stupidity of men always invites the insolence of power.

To be a star, you must shine your own light, follow your path, and don't worry about the darkness, for that is when the stars shine brightest. Always do what you are afraid to do.

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.

If I have lost confidence in myself, I have the universe against me.

Meet your failure nobly, and it will not differ from success.

Be not the slave of your own past.

Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.

Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

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.

The highest revelation is that God is in every man.

Little minds have little worries, big minds have no time for worries.

Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world.

What I must do is all that concerns me, not what people think. This rule,equally arduous in actual and intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.

Nature is made to conspire with spirit to emancipate us.

If you know you are right, stay the course even though the whole world seems to be against you and everyone you know questions your judgment. When you prevail--and you eventually will if you stick to the job--they will all tell you that they knew all along you could do it.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.

What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.

The first wealth is health.

Be silly. Be honest. Be kind.

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting.

Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting some on yourself.

Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.

Self-trust is the first secret of success.

Why should the way I feel depend on the thoughts in someone else's head?