The Quotes canon
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Browse all 10,075 quotes or apply filters in different categories to narrow your search.
Browse all 10,075 quotes or apply filters in different categories to narrow your search.
Thinking for oneself3 quotes
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. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1841Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1841I hate quotation. Tell me what you know. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1849Being present2 quotes
With the Past as past I have nothing to do, nor with the Future as future. I live now. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1839I embrace the common, I explore and sit at the feet of the familiar, the low. Give me insight into to-day, and you may have the antique and future worlds. What would we really know the meaning of? The meal in the firkin; the milk in the pan; the ballad in the street; the news of the boat. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1837Friends2 quotes
A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of Nature. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1841A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1841Friendship2 quotes
The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1841It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1838Man and nature2 quotes
Come out of your warm, angular house, resounding with few voices, into the chill, grand, instantaneous night, with such a Presence as a full moon in the clouds. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1838The sky is the daily bread of the eyes. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1843Politics2 quotes
Every revolution was first a thought in one man's mind. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1841There is always a certain meanness in the argument of conservatism, joined with a certain superiority in its fact. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1841Taking risks2 quotes
Always do what you are afraid to do. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1841In skating over thin ice our safety is in our speed. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1841Accomplishment1 quote
The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1844Achievement1 quote
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1841Art1 quote
In the Greek cities, it was reckoned profane, that any person should pretend a property in a work of art which belonged to all who could behold it. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1860Artistic development1 quote
Every artist was first an amateur. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1867Artists1 quote
Every artist was first an amateur. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1867Authenticity1 quote
Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1841Beauty1 quote
Beauty without grace is the hook without the bait. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1860Being a man1 quote
Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1841Being in love1 quote
Thou art to me a delicious torment. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1841Being misunderstood1 quote
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 · 1841Believing in oneself1 quote
If the single man plant himself indomitably on his instincts, and there abide, the huge world will come round to him. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1837Character1 quote
Character is higher than intellect. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1837Civilization and nature1 quote
Come out of your warm, angular house, resounding with few voices, into the chill, grand, instantaneous night, with such a Presence as a full moon in the clouds. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1838Clothing1 quote
The sense of being well-dressed gives a feeling of inward tranquility which religion is powerless to bestow. — C.F. Forbes · 1875Conformity1 quote
Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1841Conservatism1 quote
There is always a certain meanness in the argument of conservatism, joined with a certain superiority in its fact. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1841Consistency1 quote
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1841Equanimity1 quote
Keep cool: it will be all one a hundred years hence. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1850Experiencing nature1 quote
Come out of your warm, angular house, resounding with few voices, into the chill, grand, instantaneous night, with such a Presence as a full moon in the clouds. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1838Facing one's fears1 quote
Always do what you are afraid to do. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1841Fashion1 quote
The sense of being well-dressed gives a feeling of inward tranquility which religion is powerless to bestow. — C.F. Forbes · 1875Fear1 quote
Always do what you are afraid to do. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1841Finishing a task1 quote
The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it. — Ralph Waldo Emerson · 1844