Do you want to learn more about the pioneer of the American transcendental movement? If you are fascinated by the man who encourages us so eloquently to discover our giant within, you will like the following Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes. And for even more insightful thoughts, have a look at our selection of the finest Edgar Allen Poe quotes.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of the most influential authors and thinkers of the 19th century. He was one of the first to bring Americans into contact with metaphysical ideas, Eastern philosophies, and ancient mysteries.
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Something most biographers fail to mention is the profound spiritual impact Ralph Waldo Emerson had on millions of readers all around the world. Even in this present day and age, his thoughtful life lessons and his wise words remain an important source of inspiration.
These Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes will help you to find your inner strength
Just reading a handful of Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes can be incredibly empowering and uplifting. He always seems to be on point with what he says. As such, Emerson skillfully encourages you to see beyond life’s struggles to help you discover your inner strength.
Synopsis of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Life
Born in 1803, Emerson worked as a teacher until he was accepted into the Harvard Divinity School. He became popular as a preacher in Boston but started questioning Christian doctrines after his wife passed away in 1831.
One year later, he resigned from the ministry in search of his personal revelation – a direct experience of God. In 1833, he became a transcendentalist and published his first major work entitled Nature. Emerson continued lecturing and writing until his death in 1882.
125 Brilliant Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes
With an eloquence unmatched by any other transcendental writer, Emerson can beautifully articulate timeless wisdom easily and concisely. His work focuses on personal exploration of the spirit with an emphasis on self-reliance and self-sufficiency.
Decades or even centuries ahead of his time, Emerson’s teachings still resonate deeply with a large audience. The following Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes condense his most important teachings and give you a good overview of Emerson’s worldview.
As an extra bonus, we have also categorized some of his thoughts on the following subjects:
- Ralph Waldo Emerson nature quotes
- Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes on success
- Ralph Waldo Emerson self-reliance quotes
- Famous Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes
Here’s our selection of the most inspirational Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes
1.
“Always do what you are afraid to do.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
2.
“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
3.
“What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
4.
“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.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
5.
“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
6.
“The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
7.
“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.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
8.
“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
9.
“Let us be silent, that we may hear the whisper of God.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
10.
“When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
11.
“A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him, I may think aloud. I am arrived at last in the presence of a man so real and equal, that I may drop even those undermost garments of dissimulation, courtesy, and second thought, which men never put off, and may deal with him with the simplicity and wholeness with which one chemical atom meets another.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
12.
“It is not the length of life, but the depth.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
13.
“Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
14.
“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
15.
“For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
16.
“Make the most of yourself… for that is all there is of you.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
17.
“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
18.
“If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
19.
“All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
20.
“Every artist was first an amateur.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
21.
“Life is a series of surprises and would not be worth taking or keeping if it were not.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
22.
“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
23.
“A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
24.
“Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
25.
“Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting some on yourself.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
26.
“In my walks, every man I meet is my superior in some way, and in that, I learn from him.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
27.
“The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
28.
“The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
29.
“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
30.
“People only see what they are prepared to see.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
31.
“Life is short, but there is always time enough for courtesy.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
32.
“The years teach much the days never know.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
33.
“The populace think that your rejection of popular standards is a rejection of all standard, and mere antinomianism; and the bold sensualist will use the name of philosophy to gild his crimes. But the law of consciousness abides.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
34.
“Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
35.
“Be good to your work, your word, and your friend.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
36.
“The wise man in the storm prays God not for safety from danger but for deliverance from fear.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
37.
“Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson nature quotes
38.
“The earth laughs in flowers.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
39.
“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
40.
“The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
41.
“If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
42.
“Few people know how to take a walk. The qualifications are endurance, plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for nature, good humor, vast curiosity, good speech, good silence and nothing too much.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
43.
“That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do, not that the nature of the thing has changed but that our power to do has increased.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
44.
“Even in the mud and scum of things, something always, always sings.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
45.
“Nature is methodical, and doeth her work well. Time is never to be hurried.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
46.
“Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another can be drawn; that there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning, and under every deep a lower deep opens.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
47.
“All the good of nature is the soul’s, and maybe had, if paid for in nature’s lawful coin, that is, by labor which the heart and the head allow.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
48.
“Nature is a mutable cloud which is always and never the same.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
49.
“What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
50.
“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.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
51.
“Make yourself necessary to the world, and mankind will give you bread, and if not store of it, yet such as shall not take away your property in all men’s possessions, in all men’s affections, in art, in nature, and in hope.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
52.
“Nature never wears a mean appearance. Neither does the wisest man extort her secret, and lose his curiosity by finding out all her perfection.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
53.
“He cannot be happy and strong until he too lives with nature in the present, above time.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
54.
“Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
55.
“To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature. Most persons do not see the sun. At least they have a very superficial seeing.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
56.
“The power of Nature predominates over the human will in all works of even the fine arts, in all that respects their material and external circumstances. Nature paints the best part of the picture, carves the best part of the statue, builds the best part of the house, and speaks the best part of the oration.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
57.
“Everything in nature contains all the power of nature. Everything is made of one hidden stuff.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
58.
“Let us draw a lesson from nature, which always works by short ways. When the fruit is ripe, it falls.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
59.
“The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
60.
“The ancient precept, “Know thyself”, and the modern precept, “Study nature”, become at last one maxim.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
61.
“Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit. The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
62.
“Nature hates monopolies and exceptions.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
63.
“Respect the child. Wait and see the new product of Nature. Nature loves analogies, but not repetitions. Respect the child. Be not too much his parent. Trespass not on his solitude.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
64.
“A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes on success
65.
“Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
66.
“What is success? To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate the beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch Or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
67.
“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.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
68.
“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
69.
“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
70.
“Shallow men believe in luck or in circumstance. Strong men believe in cause and effect.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
71.
“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
72.
“Life is a succession of lessons, which must be lived to be understood.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
73.
“As to methods, there may be a million and then some. But principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
74.
“Self-trust is the first secret of success.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
75.
“I hate to be defended in a newspaper. As long as all that is said is said against me, I feel a certain assurance of success. But as soon as honeyed words of praise are spoken for me, I feel as one that lies unprotected before his enemies.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
76.
“The measure of a master is his success in bringing all men round to his opinion twenty years later.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
77.
“Success treads on every right step. For the instinct is sure, that prompts him to tell his brother what he thinks. He then learns, that in going down into the secrets of his own mind, he has descended into the secrets of all minds.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
78.
“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.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
79.
“The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson self-reliance quotes
80.
“Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
81.
“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”
Ralph Waldo Emmerson
82.
“It is easy to live for others, everybody does. I call on you to live for yourself.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
83.
“Nothing external to you has any power over you.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
84.
“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
85.
“None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
86.
“You are constantly invited to be what you are.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
87.
“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
88.
“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.”
89.
“Be not the slave of your own past – plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with new self-respect, with new power, and with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
90.
“Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in one’s own sunshine.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
91.
“I must be myself. I will not hide my tastes or aversions. I will so trust that what is deep is holy, that I will do strongly before the sun and moon whatever only rejoices me and the heart appoints.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
92.
“Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can offer with the cumulative force of a whole life’s cultivation, but of the adopted talent of another, you have only an extemporaneous, half possession.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
93.
“When you were born you were crying and everyone else was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you’re the one who is smiling and everyone else is crying.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
94.
“Whatever course you decide upon there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires… courage.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
95.
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
96.
“Be yourself; no base imitator of another, but your best self.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
97.
“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.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
98.
“There is something which you can do better than another. Listen to the inward voice and bravely obey that. Do the things at which you are great, not what you were never made for.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
99.
“People do not seem to realise that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
100.
“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
101.
“Be silly. Be honest. Be kind.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
102.
“Don’t be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
103.
“You become what you think about all day long.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Famous Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes
104.
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
105.
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
106.
“To be great is to be misunderstood.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
107.
“Love, and you shall be loved.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
108.
“Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, faith looks up”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
109.
“Life is a journey, not a destination.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
110.
“The only way to have a friend is to be one.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
111.
“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. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
112.
“In a library, we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends imprisoned by an enchanter in paper and leathern boxes.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
113.
“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
114.
“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
115.
“This new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
116.
“Beauty without expression is boring.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
117.
“Envy is ignorance, imitation is suicide.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
118.
“Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
119.
“I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”
Emerson, Ralph Waldo
120.
“When friendships are real, they are not glass threads or frostwork, but the solidest things we can know.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
121.
“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.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
122.
“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.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
123.
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency, a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradicts every thing you said to-day.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
124.
“Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
125.
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
126.
“The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil. It is not for you to choose what he shall know, what he shall do. It is chosen and foreordained and he only holds the key to his own secret.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
127.
“A great man is always willing to be little.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
128.
“Dream delivers us to dream, and there is no end to illusion. Life is like a train of moods like a string of beads, and, as we pass through them, they prove to be many-colored lenses which paint the world their own hue.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
We hope you enjoyed this collection of Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes.
No matter what situation you are confronted with, Ralph Waldo Emerson always seems to provide the right guidance. With his words, he picks you up right where you are and shows you a path to towards strength, happiness, and self-reliance.
What is your most favorite Ralph Waldo Emerson quote?
Let us know in the comment section below.
Stay victorious!
