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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

(1803 - 1882)

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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

In the woods we return to reason and faith.
Gardening - Wild
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

Repose and cheerfulness are the badge of the gentleman - repose in energy. The Greek battle pieces are calm; the heroes, in whatever violent actions engaged, retain a serene aspect.
Actions - Engagement - Heroism - Violence
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

Preaching is the expression of moral sentiments applied to the duties of life.
Morals - Preaching
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

The Gothic cathedral is a blossoming in stone subdued by the insatiable demand of harmony in man.
Architecture - Demanding - Man
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

The course of everything goes to teach us faith.
Teaching
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

Be as beneficent as the sun or the sea, but if your rights as a rational being are trenched on, die on the first inch of your territory.
Death - Right
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

He needs no library, for he has not done thinking; no church, for he is himself a prophet; no statute book, for he hath the Lawgiver; no money, for he is value itself; no road, for he is at home where he is.
Prophecy - Value
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

The task ahead of us is never as great as the power behind us.
Alcohol - Environment - Inspiration
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

Courage charms us, because it indicates that a man loves an idea better than all things in the world, that he is thinking neither of his bed, nor his dinner, nor his money, but will venture all to put in act the invisible thought of his mind.
Dining - Entrepreneurship - Man - Mindset
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

It is vain to keep a secret from one who has a right to know it. It will tell itself.
Secrets - Vanity
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

I believe it is the conviction of the purest men, that the net amount of man and man does not much vary. Each is incomparably superior to his companion in some faculty. His want of skill in other directions, has added to his fitness for his own work.
Belief - Companion - Man - Wants
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

When summer opens, I see how fast it matures, and fear it will be short; but after the heats of July and August, I am reconciled, like one who has had his swing, to the cool of autumn.
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

Thought is the seed of action.
Actions - Inspiration
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us. 'Tis good to give a stranger a meal, or a night's lodging. 'Tis better to be hospitable to his good meaning and thought, and give courage to a companion. We must be as courteous to a man as we are to a picture, which we are willing to give the advantage of a good light.
Companion - Food - Man - Wishing
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

It is noticed, that the consideration of the great periods and spaces of astronomy induces a dignity of mind, and an indifferenceto death.
Mindset
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

Behind every individual closes organization; before him opens liberty,--the Better, the Best. The first and worse races are dead.The second and imperfect races are dying out, or remain for the maturing of the higher. In the latest race, in man, every generosity, every new perception, the love and praise he extorts from his fellows, are certificates of advance out of fate into freedom.
Death - Imperfection - Man - Maturing
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

We are a puny and fickle folk. Avarice, hesitation, and following are our diseases.
Follower
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

The reason of idleness and of crime is the deferring of our hopes.
Criminal
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

I am always insincere, as always knowing there are other moods.
Knowledge
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

The soul refuses limits and always affirms an optimism, never a pessimism.
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

Traveling is a fool's paradise. Our first journeys discover to us the indifference of places. At home I dream that at Naples, at Rome, I can be intoxicated with beauty, and lose my sadness. I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea, and at last wake up in Naples, and there beside me is the stern fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from. I seek the Vatican, and the palaces. I affect to be intoxicated with sights and suggestions, but I am not intoxicated. My giant goes with me wherever I go.
Fools - Intoxication - Loss - Oneself - Packaging
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

Each man reserves to himself alone the right of being tedious.
Boredom - Man
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

America is a poem in our eyes; its ample geography dazzles the imagination, and it will not wait long for metres.
Waiting - Willing
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

The house is a castle which the King cannot enter.
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

Come out of the azure. Love the day. Do not leave the sky out of your landscape.
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

Poetry being ... when we look from the center outward.
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

The picture waits for my verdict; it is not to command me, but I am to settle its claim to praise.
Commanding
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

No nation has produced anything like his equal. There is no quality in the human mind, there is no class of topics, there is no region of thought, in which he has not soared or descended, and none in which he has not said the commanding word.
Equality - Human - Mindset
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

If your friend has displeased you, you shall not sit down to consider it, for he has already lost all memory of the passage, and has doubled his power to serve you, and, ere you can rise up again, will burden you with blessings.
Friendship - Loss - Memory
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think.
Greatness - Living - Strength - Thinking - Wellness - Willing
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

Far or forgot to me is near; Shadow and sunlight are the same; The vanished gods to me appear; And one to me are shame and fame.They reckon ill who leave me out; When me they fly, I am the wings; I am the doubter and the doubt, And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.
Death - Doubt - Illness
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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essayist, Lecturer, Philosopher, Poet

You cannot do a kindness too soon.
Good - Gratefulness
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