Quotes by Emerson, Ralph Waldo

"A man's action is only a picture book of his creed."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on action   

"We ascribe beauty to that which is simple; which has no superfluous parts; which exactly answers its end; which stands related to all things; which is the mean of many extremes."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on beauty   

"The line of beauty is the line of perfect economy."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on beauty   

"Beauty rests on necessities."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on beauty   

"As soon as beauty is sought not from religion and love, but for pleasure, it degrades the seeker."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on beauty   

This quotation can be viewed in the context of a book

"Beauty is the mark God sets on virtue. Every natural action is graceful; every heroic act is also decent, and causes the place and the bystanders to shine."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on beauty   

"Beauty is the pilot of the young soul."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on beauty
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"A beautiful form is better than a beautiful face; it gives a higher pleasure than statues or pictures; it is the finest of the fine arts."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on beauty
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"The great majority of men are bundles of beginnings."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on beginning   

"Belief consists in accepting the affirmations of the soul; unbelief, in denying them."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on belief
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"We are born believing. A man bears beliefs as a tree bears apples."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on belief
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"All the great ages have been ages of belief."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on belief   

"The death of a dear friend, wife, brother, lover, which seemed nothing but privation, somewhat later assumes the aspect of a guide or genius; for it commonly operates revolutions in our way of life, terminates an epoch of infancy or of youth which was waiting to be closed, breaks up a wonted occupation, or a household, or style of living, and allows the formation of new ones more friendly to the growth of character."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on bereavement   

"Religion is as effectually destroyed by bigotry as by indifference."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on bigotry   

"Great geniuses have the shortest biographies."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on biography   

"There is properly no history; only biography."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on biography   

This quotation can be viewed in the context of a book

"There are books which take rank in your life with parents and lovers and passionate experiences, so medicinal, so stringent, so revolutionary, so authoritative."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on books - classics   

"If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on books - reading
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"Never read any book that is not a year old."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on books - reading   

"Our high respect for a well read person is praise enough for literature."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on books - reading   

"Books are the best of things if well used; if abused, among the worst. They are good for nothing but to inspire. I had better never see a book than be warped by its attraction clean out of my own orbit, and made a satellite instead of a system."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on books - reading   

"'Tis the good reader that makes the good book; in every book he finds passages which seem to be confidences or sides hidden from all else and unmistakably meant for his ear; the profit of books is according to the sensibility of the reader; the profound thought or passion sleeps as in a mine, until it is discovered by an equal mind and heart."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on books - reading
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"We are too civil to books. For a few golden sentences we will turn over and actually read a volume of four or five hundred pages."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on books - reading   

"Some books leave us free and some books make us free."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on books - reading
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"There is creative reading as well as creative writing."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on books - reading   

"If I cannot brag of knowing something, then I brag of not knowing it; at any rate, brag."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on bragging   

"There is also this benefit in brag, that the speaker is unconsciously expressing his own ideal. Humor him by all means, draw it all out, and hold him to it."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on bragging   

"Every man is a consumer and ought to be a producer."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on business   

"The right merchant is one who has the just average of faculties we call common sense; a man of a strong affinity for facts, who makes up his decision on what he has seen. He is thoroughly persuaded of the truths of arithmetic. There is always a reason, in the man, for his good or bad fortune in making money. Men talk as if there were some magic about this. He knows that all goes on the old road, pound for pound, cent for cent -- for every effect a perfect cause -- and that good luck is another name for tenacity of purpose."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on business   

"Every calamity is a spur and valuable hint."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on calamity   

"Every burned book or house enlightens the world; every suppressed or expunged word reverberates through the earth from side to side."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on censorship
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"People wish to be settled. It is only as far as they are unsettled that there is any hope for them."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on change   

"No change of circumstances can repair a defect of character."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on character
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This quotation can be viewed in the context of a book

"Judge of your natural character by what you do in dreams."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on character   

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

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on character   

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

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on character
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"That which we call character is a reserved force which acts directly by presence, and without means. It is conceived of as a certain undemonstrable force, a familiar or genius, by whose impulses the man is guided, but whose counsels he cannot impart."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on character   

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

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on character
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"Gross and obscure natures, however decorated, seem impure shambles; but character gives splendor to youth, and awe to wrinkled skin and gray hairs."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on character   

"Do what you know and perception is converted into character."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on character
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