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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

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Famous Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

“We want men and women who shall renovate life and our social state but we see that most natures are insolvent, cannot satisfy their own wants, have an ambition out of all proportion to their practical force, and so do lean and beg day and night continually.”

MenWantLifeStatesNightForceSocialNatureAmbitionMen And WomenPracticalsProportionWant MeDay And Night
Book:The Spiritual Emerson: Essential Works by Ralph Waldo Emerson
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“The mark of the man of the world is absence of pretension. He does not make a speech; he takes a low business-tone, avoids all brag, is nobody, dresses plainly, promises not at all, performs much, speaks in monosyllables, hugs his fact.”

MenWorldDoeFactsSpeakBusinessHe ManPromiseSpeechLowsMarkDressesAbsenceToneHugPretensionBrag
Book:Selected Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson: (A Modern Library E-Book)
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“What is life but the angle of vision? A man is measured by the angle at which he looks at objects. What is life but what a man is thinking of all day? This is his fate and his employer. Knowing is the measure of the man. By how much we know, so we are.”

ThinkingKnowsMenLooksGrowthVisionKnowingFateObjectsHe ManMindfulnessAngleEmployersWhat Is Life
Book:Delphi Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Illustrated)
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“We do not yet trust the unknown powers of thought. Whence came all these tools, inventions, book laws, parties, kingdoms? Out of the invisible world, through a few brains. The arts and institutions of men are created out of thought. The powers that make the capitalist are metaphysical, the force of method and force of will makes trade, and builds towns.”

MenWorldArtBookLawForcePartyBrainToolsTownsMethodInstitutionsTradeInvisibleInventionKingdomsCapitalistMetaphysicalPower Of ThoughtForce Of Will
Author:Ralph Waldo Emerson
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“But I cannot recite, even thus rudely, laws of the intellect, without remembering that lofty and sequestered class of men who have been its prophets and oracles, the high-priesthood of the pure reason, the Trismegisti, the expounders of the principles of thought from age to age.”

MenHas BeensReasonAgeRememberLawClassPrinciplesPureIntellectProphetLoftyPriesthoodOracles
Book:The Selected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson
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“Men grind and grind in the mill of a truism, and nothing comes out but what was put in. But the moment they desert the tradition for a spontaneous thought, then poetry, wit, hope, virtue, learning, anecdote, and all flock to their aid.”

MenMomentsPoetryHopeLearningVirtueTraditionAidsWitDesertSpontaneousGrindFlocksMillsAnecdotesTruism
Book:Delphi Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Illustrated)
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“When good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; you shall not see the face of man; you shall not hear any name; the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new. It shall exclude example and experience.”

MenWayFacesNamesKnownFeetExampleStrangePrintSelf RelianceAccustomedReliance
Book:Self-Reliance and Other Essays
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“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.”

IfsKnowsMenInspirationalReasonFactsPurposeNamesStrongCausesDecisionPerfectCommonBusinessMagicEffectsHe ManGoes OnLuckFortuneAverageCommon SenseMaking MoneyPoundsFacultyCentsGood LuckTenacityMerchantsAffinityArithmeticBad Fortune
Book:Representative men. English traits. Conduct of life
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“Now that is the wisdom of a man, in every instance of his labor, to hitch his wagon to a star, and see his chore done by the gods themselves. That is the way we are strong, by borrowing the might of the elements. The forces of steam, gravity, galvanism, light, magnets, wind, fire, serve us day by day and cost us nothing.”

MenWayDoneLightMightStrongForceStarsFireWindCostElementsLaborInstanceGravitySteamMagnetBorrowingChoresWagonsGalvanism
Book:Ralph Waldo Emerson
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