Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

“Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.”

“What you set your heart upon surely shall be yours.”

“Intention is one with cause and effect.”

“A good intention clothes itself with sudden power.”

“We aim above the mark to hit the mark.”

“Insist on yourself; never imitate.”

“Hitch your wagon to a star.”

“Each man has his own vocation; his talent is his call. There is one direction in which all space is open to him.”

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

“Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you; you have to win it.”

“A believer, a mind whose faith is consciousness, is never disturbed because other persons do not yet see the fact which he sees.”

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”

“Life is a journey, not a destination.”

“The first wealth is health.”

“Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.”

“Society is a masked ball, where every one hides his real character, and reveals it by hiding.”

“A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within.”

“If you learn only methods, you’ll be tied to your methods, but if you learn principles you can devise your own methods.”

“A man is what he thinks about all day long.”

“That only which we have within can we see without. If we meet no gods, it is because we harbor none.”

“We gain the strength of the temptation we resist.”

“Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine.”

“Nothing external to you has any power over you.”

“People only see what they are prepared to see.”

“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; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.”

“Self-command is the main discipline.”

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

“Nobody will believe in you unless you believe in yourself.”

“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.”

“Treat yourself as you are, and you will remain as you are. Treat yourself as you could be, and you will become what you should be.”

“For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind.”

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

“We must be our own before we can be another’s.”

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

“Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.”

“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.”

“Every artist was first an amateur.”

“Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.”

“He who is not every day conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.”

“Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.”

“Self-trust is the first secret of success.”

“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”

“Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong.”

“Trust your instinct to the end, though you can render no reason.”

“Self-trust is the essence of heroism.”

“The best lightning rod for your protection is your own spine.”

“To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men—that is genius.”

“It is only as a man puts off all foreign support, and stands alone, that I see him to be strong and to prevail.”