Danger Of Misquoting Ralp Waldo Emerson

“As soon as there is life there is danger” is another popular quote wrongly attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson.

I know this line is from the discourse titled ‘The Scholar (1863)’ that is found in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s book “The Selected Lectures of Ralph Waldo Emerson”.

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As mentioned in this book, Emerson delivered this discourse (which was originally untitled) on July 22, 1863, before the Literary Societies of Dartmouth College in Hanover.

And this quote is also found in another of Emerson’s book, “Uncollected Lectures“.

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Both books do not state that this quote is taken from another source.

Keep reading…

There Is Danger Of Misquoting Ralph Waldo Emerson

This quote is also found in another of Emerson’s book, titled “The Complete Sermons Of Ralph Waldo Emerson”.

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In this book, this particular quote “As soon as there is life there is danger” is cited as taken from: Madame de Staël, Germany(New York, 1814),2:315;cf.JMN 6:37.

As you see from the citation above, this quote is also found in “The Journals And Miscellaneous Notebooks of Ralph Waldo Emerson Volume 6”.

Again, it stated that this quote is taken from Madame de Staël.

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This quotation is actually by the Swiss author Anne Louise Germaine de Staël or better known as Madame de Staël.

By the way, that was her married name. She was married to Baron Erik Magnus Staël von Holstein.

You can see this quotation in her book “Germany” by The Baroness Staël.

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The quote “As soon as there is life there is danger” in French, is: dès qu’il y a vie , il y a danger

You can find this line in the French version of the book “De l’Allemagne“.

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The of the book is released way back in 1813. It could have published as earlier as 1810.

The English translation is published in 1814.

Among all the published works of Emerson, the earliest date he said to use this quote was in the discourse ‘The Scholar” on July 22, 1863, as I have stated above.

In fact, while I was updating this blog post, I came across a couple more quotations which are actually wrongly attributed to Emerson.

For instance, these two quotes:

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

“The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it.”

They are NOT by Ralph Waldo Emerson!

Click on them to find out the correct sources of these two quotations.

Anyway, if you are looking for authentic Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes with credible sources, then you have come to right place.

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, philosopher, lecturer and poet. He published many popular essays which include “Self-Reliance”, “Nature“, “Friendship”, “The American Scholar” and “Experience”.

Emerson was one of the few famous Transcendentalist.

His main belief was that each individual could transcend, or move beyond, the physical world of the senses into deeper spiritual experience through free will and intuition.

You can read more details about this great literary figure from here.

Verified Authentic Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

Here is a great selection of verified authentic Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes that link to credible sources.

“Every man alone is sincere. At the entrance of a second person, hypocrisy begins. We parry and fend the approach of our fellow man by compliments, by gossip, by amusements, by affairs. We cover up our thought from him under a hundred folds.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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(This quote is also found in: )

(Another source: )

“Self-truth is the essence of heroism.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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(This quote is also found in: )

“Earth laughs in flowers…” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Vol.9 (Poems), Fireside Edition (Boston And New York, 1909), Hamatreya, P. 35)

(The quote is also found in: Poem By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James R. Osgood And Company, 1874, Hamatreya, P. 53)

“Society is always taken by surprise at any new example of common sense and of simple justice, as at a wonderful discovery.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Later Lectures Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1843-1871, Volume 2 By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited By Ronald A. Bosco And Joel Myerson, University Of Georgia Press, 1 May 2010, “Celebration Of Intellect: An Address At Turfs College, 10 July 1861, P. 243)

(This quote is also found in: The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Natural History Of Intellect: And Other Papers By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Houghton, Mifflin, 1904; p.118)

“Make yourself necessary to somebody. Do not make life hard to any.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Conduct Of Life By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1860, Considerations By The Way; p.242)

(This quote is also found in: The Complete Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Comprising His Essays, Lectures, Poems, And Orations, In Two Volumes, Volume II By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bell & Daldy, 1866, Conduct Of Life, VII. Considerations By The Way, P. 426)

“All men are in some degree impressed by the face of the world; some men even to delight. This love of beauty is Taste. Others have the same love in such excess, that, not content with admiring, they seek to embody it in new forms. The creation of beauty is Art.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Emerson’s Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Selected And Edited With An Introduction By Arthur Hobson Quinn, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1920, From Nature, Addresses And Lectures, Nature (1836), III. Beauty, P. 10)

(This quote is also found in: Nature: An Essay. To Which Is Added, Orations, Lectures, And addresses By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Aylott & Jones, 1845, Nature, ch. III Beauty, P. 13)

(Another source: Nature and Other Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Courier Corporation, 2012, Beauty (1836), ch.III Beauty, P. 9)

“No secret can be kept in the civilized world. Society is a masked ball, where every one hides his real character, and reveals it by hiding.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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(This quote is also found in: )

(Another source:The Collected Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson Vol. VI, By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Harvard University Press, 2003, The Conduct of Life, VI. Worship, P. 119)

“Every artist was first an amateur.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Letters And Social Aims By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James R. Osgood And Company, 1876, Progres Of Culture: Address Read Before The BK Society At Cambridge, July 18, 1867, P. 202)

(This quote is also found in: Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson In Five Volumes, Volume IV, Letters And Social Aims, Poems By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Houghton, Osgood And Company, 1880, Progress Of Culture: Address Read Before The BK Society At Cambridge, July 18, 1867, P. 181)

“We find a delight in the beauty and happiness of children that makes the heart too big for the body.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Conduct Of Life By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1860, IX. Illusions, P. 248)

(The quote is also found in: The Complete Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Comprising His Essays, Lectures, Poems, And Orations, In Two Volumes, Vol. II By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bell & Daldy, 1866, The Conduct Of Life, IX. Illusions, P. 444)

“Every book is a quotation; and every house is a quotation out of all forests and mines and stone quarries; and every man is a quotation from all his ancestors.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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(The quote is also found in: The Prose Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, In Two Volumes, Vol. II By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, Representative Men, II. Pluto; Or, The Philosopher, P. 24)

“Next to the originator of a good sentence is the first quoter of it. Many will read the book before one thinks of quoting a passage. As soon as he has done this, that line will be quoted east and west.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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(The quote is also found in: The Journals And Miscellaneous Notebooks of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Volume XVI 1866-1882 By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited By Ronald A. Bosco And Glen M. Johnson, Harvard University Press, 1982, Part One The Journals, LN 1866-1868, 1867, 203, P. 67)

(Another source of the quote: The Complete Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Letters And Social Aims By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1870, VI. Quotation And Originality, P. 191)

“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Journals And Miscellaneous Notebooks Volume VIII: 1841-1843 By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited By William H. Gilman And J. E. Parsons, The Belknap Press Of Harvard University Press, 1970, Part I, The Journals, Journal N: 1842, 21; p.255) source

(The quote is also found in: Emerson In His Journals, Selected And Edited By Joel Porte, Harvard University Press, 1982, Experience, Nov 1842, P. 294) source

“By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we all quote.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Complete Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Letters And Social Aims Vol. VIII By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1884, Quotation And Originality, P. 170)

(The quote is also found in: Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson In Five Volumes, Vol. IV., Letters And Social Aims, Poems By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Houghton, Osgood And Company, 1880, Quotation And Originality, P. 144)

“I do not wish to treat friendships daintily, but with roughest courage. When they are real, they are not glass threads or frost-work, but the solidest thing we know.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First And Second Series, Two Volumes In One, Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1883, First Series, Essay VI. Friendship, P. 192)

(The quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Munroe And Company, 1841, Essay VI. Friendship, P. 167)

“This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The American Scholar Self Reliance Compensation By Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Book Company, 1911, The American Scholar, P. 42)

(The quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Xist Publishing, 2014, The American Scholar, P. 19)

“We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds. The study of letters shall be no longer a name for pity, for doubt, and for sensual indulgence.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The American Scholar Self Reliance Compensation By Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Book Company, 1911, The American Scholar, P. 46)

(The quote is also found in: Nature, Addresses And Lectures By Ralph Waldo Emerson, University Press Of The Pacific, 2001, The American Scholar: An Oration Delivered Before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, at Cambridge, August 31, 1837, P. 114-15)

“Character is higher than intellect.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The American Scholar Self Reliance Compensation By Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Book Company, 1911, The American Scholar; p.33)

(The quote is also found in: The Journals And Miscellaneous Notebooks Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Vol. V 1835 – 1838, Edited By Merton M. Sealts, Jr., The Belknap Press Of Harvard University Press, 1965, Journal C, 58, May 1, 1837, P. 318)

“Genius is always sufficiently the enemy of genius by over influence.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The American Scholar Self Reliance Compensation By Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Book Company, 1911, The American Scholar, P. 28)

(The quote is also found in: Ralph Waldo Emerson: Selected Essays, Lectures And Poems By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited With Foreword By Robert D. Richardson, Jr., Random House, 2007, Early Essays And Lectures, The American Scholar (1837), P. 88)

“The soul active sees absolute truth; and utters truth, or creates.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The American Scholar Self Reliance Compensation By Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Book Company, 1911, The American Scholar, P. 27)

(The quote is also found in: Orations, Lectures, And Addresses By Ralph Waldo Emerson, H. G. Clarke And Co., 1845, Orations, Man Thinking: An Orations, Delivered Before The Phi Beta Kappa Society, At Cambridge, U.S., August 31st, 1837, P. 14)

“Man hopes. Genius creates.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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(The quote is also found in: Nature: An Essay, To Which Is Added, Orations, Lectures, and Addresses By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Aylott And Jones, 1845, Orations, I. Man Thinking: An Orations, Delivered Before The Phi Beta Kappa Society, At Cambridge, August 31, 1837, P. 55)

“The world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension waiting to be struck…” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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(This quote is also found in: Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson In Five Volumes, Vol. IV., Letters And Social Aims, Poems By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Houghton, Osgood And Company, 1880, Resources; p.111)

“…if eyes were made for seeing, then beauty is its own excuse for being.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Poems By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1904, Poems, The Rhodora: On Being Asked, Whence Is The Flowers?; p.38)

(This quote is also found in: Emerson: Poems By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2012, From Poems (1847), The Rhodora: On Being Asked, Whence Is The Flowers?; p.17)

“There are two classes of poets — the poets by education and practice, these we respect; and poets by nature, these we love.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Parnassus Edited By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1970, Preface; p.iv)

(This quote is also found in: Parnassus Edited By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, Preface; p.iv)

“Poetry teaches the enormous force of a few words, and, in proportion to the inspiration, checks loquacity.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Parnassus Edited By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Garrett Press, Inc., 1969, Preface; p.iii)

(This quote is also found in: Parnassus Edited By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, Preface; p.iii)

“Solvency is maintained by means of a national debt, on the principle, “If you will not lend me the money, how can I pay you?” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(English Traits By R. W. Emerson, Philips, Sampson And Company, 1856, ch. V. Ability; p.102)

(This quote is also found in: The Complete Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson Comprising His Essays, Lectures, Poems, And Orations, In Two Volumes, Vol. II By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bell & Daldy, 1866, English Traits, V. Ability; p.43)

“Classics which at home are drowsily read have a strange charm in a country inn, or in the transom of a merchant brig.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(English Traits By R. W. Emerson, Philips, Sampson And Company, 1856, ch. II. Voyage To England; p.37)

(This quote is also found in: The Prose Of Ralph Waldo Emerson In Two Volumes, Vol. II, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, English Traits, II. Voyage To England; p.173)

“The novelist should not make any character act absurdly, but only absurdly as seen by others. For it is so in life.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Natural History Of Intellect And Other Papers By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1893, Natural History Of Intellect; p.45)

(This quote is also found in: )

“Every man I meet is my master in some point; and in that I learn of him.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Letters And Social Aims By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James R. Osgood And Company, 1876, Greatness; p.280)

(This quote is also found in: Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson In Five Volumes, Vol. IV, Letters And Social Aims, Poems By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Houghton, Osgood And Company, 1880, Letters And Social Aims, Greatness; p.254)

“People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Conduct Of Life By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1860, VI. Worship; p.176)

(This quote is also found in: )

“The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Journals and Miscellaneous Notebooks: 1841-1843 By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Harvard University Press, 1960, Journal R, 1843, P. 403)

“The Religion that is afraid of science dishonours God and commits suicide.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Heart of Emerson’s Journals By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited By Bliss Perry, Dover Corporation Inc., 2014, Age 27, Concord, March 4, 1831, P. 48)

(The quote is also found in: Journals Of Ralph Waldo Emerson Journals: 1820 – 1872, Edited By Edward Waldo Emerson & Waldo Emerson Forbes, Volume II, Cambridge: Riverside Press, 1909, Journal XXII, The Universal Spirit, Age 27, Concord, March 4, 1831, P. 362)

“We are always getting ready to live, but never living.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Heart of Emerson’s Journals By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited By Bliss Perry, Dover Corporation Inc., 2014, Age 30, Newton, April 13, 1834; p.84) source

(The quote is also found in: The Journals And Miscellaneous Notebooks Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Vol IV, 1832-1834, Edited By Alfred R. Ferguson, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press Of Harvard University Press, 1964, Part I, The Texts Of The Journals, XXV, April 13, 1834, P. 276) source

“…sometimes a scream is better than a thesis.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Emerson In His Journals By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Selected And Edited By Joel Porte, Harvard University Press, 1982, Concord And Discord, April 23, 1838; p.185)

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

(Emerson In His Journals By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Selected And Edited By Joel Porte, Harvard University Press, 1982, Concord And Discord, November 8, 1838; p.206)

“The best effect of fine persons is felt after we have left their presence…” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Journals Of Ralph Waldo Emerson By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited By Robert Newton Linscott, Modern Library, 1960; p.157)

“It is easy to live for others; everybody does. I call on you to live for yourself.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Later Lectures Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1843-1871, Volume 1 By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited By Ronald A. Bosco And Joel Myerson, The University Of Georgia Press, 2010, Two Discourses, Middlebury College And Wesleyan College; p.97)

“You shall have joy, or you shall have power, said God; you shall not have both.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Emerson In His Journals By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Selected And Edited By Joel Porte, Harvard University Press, 1984, Experience, October 12, 1842; p.292)

(This quote is also found in: Journals And Miscellaneous Notebooks: 1841-1843 By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited By William Henry Gilman, Harvard University Press, 1960, 112, Journal N, October 12, 1842; p.294)

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

(The Heart of Emerson’s Journals By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited By Bliss Perry, Dover Publications, Inc., 1995, Emerson’s Journals, November 11, 1842, P. 189) source

“Poetry must be new as foam, and as old as the rock.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Journals Of Ralph Waldo Emerson: With Annotations, Volume 7, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1909, Journal XXXVI Age 41, March, 1845, P. 36) source

“Standing on the bare ground, — my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, — all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Nature; Address, And Lectures By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Munroe And Company, 1849, ch. I, Nature; p.8)

(This quote is also found in: Emerson: Essays And Lectures, Nature; Address And Lectures, Essays: First And Second Series, Representative Men, English Traits, The Conduct Of Life By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Compiled And Edited By Joel Porte, The Library Of America, 1983, ch. I. Nature; Address, And Lectures, Nature; p.10)

“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

(Nature; Address, And Lectures By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Munroe And Company, 1849, ch. I, Nature; p.7)

(This quote is also found in: Nature – Conduct of Life By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Read Books Ltd, 2013, I. Nature)

“A man is a god in ruins.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Nature; Address, And Lectures By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Munroe And Company, 1849, ch. VIII Prospects; p.68)

(This quote is also found in: Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson – Nature By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Editora Dracaena, 2016, ch. 8, Prospects)

“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…” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Nature; Address, And Lectures By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Munroe And Company, 1849, ch. I Nature; p.5)

(This quote is also found in: Nature, Addresses And Lectures By Ralph Waldo Emerson, University Press Of The Pacific, 2001, ch. I. Nature; p.13)

(Another source: Selected Writings Of Ralph Waldo Emerson By Ralph Waldo Emerson, II. Essays And Addresses, ch. I: Nature)

“…the only way to have a friend is to be one.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First And Second Series, Two Volumes In One, Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1883, Essays First Series, VI. Friendship; p.202)

(This quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First Series, Houghton, Mifflin And Company,1893, Friendship; p.170)

(Another source: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Xist Publishing, 2015, Friendship)

“Let us draw a lesson from nature, which always works by short ways. When the fruit is ripe, it falls.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First And Second Series, Two Volumes In One, Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1883, Essays First Series, IV. Spiritual Laws; p.130)

(Another source: The Essays Of Ralph Waldo Emerson By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Test Estabkished By Alfred R. Ferguson And Jean Ferguson Carr, The Belknap Press Of Harvard University Press, 1987, Essays: First Series, IV. Spiritual Laws; p.80)

“Friendship, like the immortality of the soul, is too good to be believed.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First And Second Series, Two Volumes In One, Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1883, Essays First Series, VI. Friendship; p.187)

(This quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First Series, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1893, Friendship; p.158)

(Another source: Self-Reliance and Other Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited By Stanley Appelbaum, Dover Publications, 2016, From Essays (1841), Friendship; p.41)

“Every man has his own courage, and is betrayed because he seeks in himself the courage of other persons.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Journals And Miscellaneous Notebooks of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Volume IX 1843-1847 By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited By Ralph H. Orth And Alfred R. Ferguson, The Belknap Press Of Harvard University Press, 1971, Journal V, 37; p.112)

“Every reform was once a private opinion…” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First And Second Series, Two Volumes In One, Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1883, Essays First Series, I. History; p.10-11)

(This quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First Series, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1893, History; p.12)

“The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn…” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First And Second Series, Two Volumes In One, Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1883, Essays First Series, I. History; p.10)

(This quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First Series, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1893, History; p.11)

(Another source: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, With Preface By Thomas Carlyle, James Fraser, 1841, Essay I., History; p.4)

“…the ancestor of every action is a thought.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First And Second Series, Two Volumes In One, Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1883, Essays First Series, IV. Spiritual Laws; p.154)

(This quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First Series, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1893, Spiritual Laws; p.131)

(Another source: The Early Lectures of Ralph Waldo Emerson Volume III 1838 – 1842 By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited By Robert E. Spiller And Wallace E. Williams, Harvard University Press, 1972, II. The Present Age, 6. Reforms; p.267)

“Heroism feels and never reasons and therefore is always right…” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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(This quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First Series, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1893, Heroism; p.199)

(Another source: Essays, Lectures And Orations By Ralph Waldo Emerson, William S. Orr And Co., 1851, Essays: First Series, Heroism; p.114)

“Every revolution was first a thought in one man’s mind and when the same thought occurs to another man, it is the key to that era.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First And Second Series, Two Volumes In One, Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1883, Essays First Series, I. History; p.10)

(This quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First Series, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1893, History; p.12)

(Another source: )

“…there is properly no history; only biography.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First And Second Series, Two Volumes In One, Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1883, Essays First Series, I. History; p.15)

(This quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First Series, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1893, History; p.16)

(Another source: Self-Reliance And Other Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited By Stanley Appelbaum, Dover Publications, 2012, From Essays (1841), History; p.4)

“Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First And Second Series, Two Volumes In One, Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1883, Essays First Series, II. Self-Reliance; p.51)

(This quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First Series, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1893, Self-Reliance; p.46)

(Another source: The Essays Of Ralph Waldo Emerson By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Text Established By Alfred Riggs Ferguson And Jean Ferguson Carr, The Belknap Prerss Of Harvard University Press, 1987, Self-Reliance; p.29)

“I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First And Second Series, Two Volumes In One, Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1883, Essays First Series, II. Self-Reliance; p.71)

(This quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First Series, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1893, Self-Reliance; p.62)

(Another source: Self-Reliance, The Over-Soul, And And Other Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Coyote Canyon Press, 2010, Self-Reliance; p.31)

“Discontent is the want of self-reliance: it is infirmity of will.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First And Second Series, Two Volumes In One, Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1883, Essays First Series, II. Self-Reliance; p.77)

(This quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First Series, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1893, Self-Reliance; p.67)

(Another source: Self-Reliance And Other Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited By Stanley Appelbaum, Dover Publications, 2012, Self-Reliance; p.33)

“Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First And Second Series, Two Volumes In One, Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1883, Essays First Series, II. Self-Reliance; p.60)

(This quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First Series, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1893, Self-Reliance; p.53)

(Another source: Emerson: Select Essays And Poems By Ralph Emerson Emerson, Edited By Eva March Tappan, Ph.D, Allyn And Bacon, 1898, Essays, Self-Reliance; p.39)

“A great man is always willing to be little.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First And Second Series, Two Volumes In One, Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1883, Essays First Series, III. Compensation; p.113)

(This quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First Series, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1893, Compensation; p.97)

(Another source: Compensation And Self-Reliance By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Cosimo Inc., 2010, Compensation; p.23)

“To-morrow will be like to-day. Life wastes itself whilst we are preparing to live.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First And Second Series, Two Volumes In One, Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1883, Essays First Series, VII. Prudence; p.226)

(This quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First Series, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1893, Prudence; p.191)

(Another source: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Jazzybee Verlag, 2012, Essays, First Series, VII. Prudence)

“Every violation of truth is not only a sort of suicide in the liar, but is a stab at the health of human society.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First And Second Series, Two Volumes In One, Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1883, Essays First Series, VII. Prudence; p.223)

(This quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First Series, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1893, Prudence; p.188-89)

(Another source: The Early Lectures Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Volume II 1836-1838 By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited By Robert E. Spiller, Stephen E. Whicher And Wallace E. Williams, The Belknap Press Of Harvard University Press, 1964, Human Culture, 7. Prudence; p.318)

“One man’s justice is another’s injustice; one man’s beauty another’s ugliness; one man’s wisdom another’s folly…” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First And Second Series, Two Volumes In One, Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1883, Essays First Series, X. Circles; p.294)

(This quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First Series, James Munroe And Company, 1850, Essays, First Series, Essay X. Circles; p.286)

(Another source: The Prose Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, In Two Volumes, Volume I By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Fields, Osgood & Co., 1870, Essays, Circles; p.382)

“Nature abhors the old, and old age seems the only disease; all others run into this one.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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(This quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First Series, James Munroe And Company, 1850, Essay X. Circles; p.289)

(Another source : Nature And Other Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited By Lisa Perniciaro, Dover Publications Inc., 2009, Circles; p.131)

“Valor consists “Valor consists in the power of self-recovery, so that a man cannot have his flank turned, cannot be out-generalled, but put him where you will, he stands.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First And Second Series, Two Volumes In One, Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1883, Essays First Series, X. Circles; p.288)

(This quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First Series, Fields, Osgood, & Co., 1869, Essay X. Circles; p.280)

(Another source: The Prose Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson In Two Volumes, Vol. I By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James R. Osgood And Company, 1876, Essays, Circles p.379)

“Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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(This quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First Series, Fields, James Munroe And Company, 1850, Essay XII. Art; p.327)

(Another source: Essays – First Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Floating Press, 2009, Art; p.305)

“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First And Second Series, Two Volumes In One, Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1883, Essays First Series, XII. Art; p.334)

(This quote is also found in: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First Series, Fields, James Munroe And Company, 1850, Essay XII. Art; p.324)

(Another source: Essays, First and Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, jazzybee Verlag, 1937, Essays First Series, XII. Art; p.115)

“We are symbols, and inhabit symbols…” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Munroe And Company, 1844, Essay I. The Poet; p.21)

(This quote is also found in: Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1867, Essay I. The poet; p.24)

(Another source: Nature and Other Writings By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited By Peter Turner, Shambhala, 2003, The Poet; p.168)

“The poets made all the words, and therefore language is the archives of history, and, if we must say it, a sort of tomb of the muses.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Munroe And Company, 1844, Essay I. The Poet; p.23)

(This quote is also found in: Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1867, Essay I. The poet; p.26)

(Another source: The Complete Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson Comprising Essays, Lectures, Poems, And Orations In Two Volumes, Vol. I, Bell & Daldy, 1866, Essays, XIII. The Poet; p.162)

“To finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Munroe And Company, 1844, Essay II. Experience; p.65)

(This quote is also found in: Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1867, Essay II. Experience; p.63)

(Another source: The Complete Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson Comprising Essays, Lectures, Poems, And Orations In Two Volumes, Vol. I, Bell & Daldy, 1866, Essays, XIV. Experience; p.179)

“We do what we must, and call it by the best names we can…” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Munroe And Company, 1844, Essay II. Experience; p.62)

(This quote is also found in: Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1867, Essay II. Experience; p.60)

(Another source: Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Second Series, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1882, Experience; p.52)

“A man is a golden impossibility. The line he must walk is a hair’s breadth. The wise through excess of wisdom is made a fool.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Munroe And Company, 1844, Essay II. Experience; p.72)

(This quote is also found in: Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1867, Essay II. Experience; p.69)

(Another source: The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson Comprising Essays, Lectures, Poems, And Orations In Two Volumes, Vol. I, Bell & Daldy, 1866, Essays, XIV. Experience; p.182)

“Nature and books belong to the eyes that see them.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Munroe And Company, 1844, Essay II. Experience; p.55)

(This quote is also found in: Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1867, Essay II. Experience; p.54)

(Another source: Essays, Lectures And Orations By Ralph Waldo Emerson, William S. Orr And Co., 1851, Essay Second Series, Experience; p.188)

“The years teach much which the days never know.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Munroe And Company, 1844, Essay II. Experience; p.75)

(This quote is also found in: Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1867, Essay II. Experience; p.71)

(Another source: Essays, lectures and orations By Ralph Waldo Emerson, William S. Orr And Co., 1851, Essays Second Series, Experience; p.197)

“Dream delivers us to dream, and there is no end to illusion.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Munroe And Company, 1844, Essay II. Experience; p.54)

(This quote is also found in: Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1867, Essay II. Experience; p.54)

(Another source: Essays, First and Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Jazzybee Verlag, 1937, Essays, Second Series, II. Experience; p.135)

“…the less government we have, the better, — the fewer laws, and the less confided power.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Munroe And Company, 1844, Essay VII. Politics; p.235)

(This quote is also found in: Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1867, Essay VII. Politics; p.208)

(Another source: The Collected Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Volume III, Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Text Established By Alfred Riggs Ferguson And Jean Ferguson Carr, Historical Introduction And Notes By Joseph Slater, The Belknap Press Of Harvard University Press, 1983, Essays: Second Series, VII. Politics; p.126)

“Every man is wanted and no man is wanted much.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Munroe And Company, 1844, Essay VIII. Nominalist And Realist; p.264)

(This quote is also found in: Essays: Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1860, Essay VIII. Nominalist And Realists; p.231)

(Another source: Essays Second Series By Ralph Waldo Emerson, First World Library, 2004, Nominalist And Realist; p.162)

“Is not marriage an open question, when it is alleged, from the beginning of the world, that such as are in the institution wish to get out, and such as are out wish to get in?” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Representative Men: Seven Lectures By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1884, IV. Montaigne; Or, The Skeptic; p.150)

(You can also find this quote in: The Prose Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, In Two Volumes, Vol. II By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, Representative Men, IV. Montaigne; Or, The Sceptic; p.85)

“Great geniuses have the shortest biographies.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Representative Men: Seven Lectures By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1884, II. Plato; Or, The Philosopher; p.45)

(You can also find this quote in: The Prose Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, In Two Volumes, Vol. II By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, Representative Men, II. Plato; Or, The Philosopher; p.25)

“Things added to things, as statistics, civil history, are inventories. Things used as language are inexhaustibly attractive.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Representative Men: Seven Lectures By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1884, II. Plato; Or, The Philosopher; p.56)

(You can also find this quote in: The Prose Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson In Two Volumes, Vol. II, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, Representative Men, II. Plato; Or, The Philosopher; p.31)

“A man in debt is so far a slave…” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Conduct Of Life By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1860, III. Wealth; p.78)

(You can also find this quote in: The Complete Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Comprising His Essays, Lectures, Poems, And Orations, In Two Volumes, Vol. II, Bell & Daldy, 1866, The Conduct Of Life, III. Wealth; p.346)

“The first wealth is health.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Conduct Of Life By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1860, II. Power; p.47)

“The revelation of Thought takes men out of servitude into freedom.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Conduct Of Life By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1860, I. Fate; p.21)

(You can also find this quote in: The Conduct Of Life By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Smith, Elder And Co., 1860, II. Power; p.22)

“Shallow men believe in luck, believe in circumstances…Strong men believe in cause and effect.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Conduct Of Life By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1860, VI. Worship; p.191-92)

(You can also find this quote in: The Prose Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, In Two Volumes, Vol.II, Fields, Osgood, & Co., 1870, Conduct Of Life, VI. Worship; p.432)

“We are born believing. A man bears beliefs as a tree bears apples.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Conduct Of Life By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1860, VI. Worship; p.177)

“A man is the prisoner of his power.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Conduct Of Life By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1860, IV. Culture; p.113)

“If a man own land, the land owns him.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Conduct Of Life By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1860, III. Wealth; p.100)

(You can also find this quote in: The Prose Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, In Two Volumes, Vol.II, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, Conduct Of Life, III. Wealth; p.376)

“Art is a jealous mistress…” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Conduct Of Life By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1860, III. Wealth; p.99)

(You can also find this quote in: The Prose Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, In Two Volumes, Vol.II, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, Conduct Of Life, III. Wealth; p.376)

“All the great speakers were bad speakers at first.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Conduct Of Life By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1860, II. Power; p.67)

(You can also find this quote in: The Prose Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, In Two Volumes, Vol.II, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, Conduct Of Life, II. Power; p.355)

“Whatever limits us we call Fate.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(The Conduct Of Life By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ticknor And Fields, 1860, I. Fate; p.16)

“…we boil at different degrees.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Society And Solitude: Twelve Chapters By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, Eloquence; p.55)

(You can also find this quote in: The Collected Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Volume VII, Society And solitude By Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Belknap Press Of Harvard University Press, 2007, Society And Solitude, ch. 4. Eloquence; p.30)

“Solitude is impracticable, and society fatal.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Society And Solitude: Twelve Chapters By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, Society And Solitude; p.14)

(You can also find this quote in: Society and Solitude: Twelve Chapters By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1888, Society And Solitude; p.18)

“Self-trust is the first secret of success…” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Society And Solitude: Twelve Chapters By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, Success; p.261)

“Invention breeds invention.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Society And Solitude: Twelve Chapters By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, Works And Days; p.145)

(You can also find this quote in: The Selected Lectures Of Ralph Waldo Emerson By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited By Ronald A. Bosco & Joel Myerson, The University Of Georgia Press, 2005, Resources (1864-1871); p.330)

“The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Society And Solitude: Twelve Chapters By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, Domestic Life; p.115)

(You can also find this quote in: The Early Lectures of Ralph Waldo Emerson Volume III 1838 – 1842, By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited By Robert E. Spiller And Wallace E. Williams, The Belknap Press Of Harvard University Press, 1972, p. II. The Present Age, 5. Private Life; p.253)

“Can anybody remember when the times were not hard and money not scarce?” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Society And Solitude: Twelve Chapters By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, Works And Days; p.147)

(You can also find this quote in: The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Society And Solitude Twelve Chapters By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1922, VII. Works And Days; p.164)

“A man builds a fine house; and now he has a master, and a task for life: he is to furnish, watch, show it, and keep it in repair, the rest of his days.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Society And Solitude: Twelve Chapters By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, Works And Days; p.147)

(You can also find this quote in: Society and Solitude: Twelve Chapters By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Houghton, Mifflin And Company, 1888, p.134)

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

(Society And Solitude: Twelve Chapters By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, Works And Days; p.157)

(You can also find this quote in: The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Society And Solitude Twelve Chapters By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1922, VII. Works And Days; p.175)

“Men love to wonder, and that is the seed of our science…” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Society And Solitude: Twelve Chapters By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, Works And Days; p.142)

“Don’t waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Society And Solitude: Twelve Chapters By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, Success; p.276)

(You can also find this quote in: Poems And Essays By Ralph Waldo Emerson By R.W. Emerson, Houghton, Mifflin & Company, 1897, Nature, The Humble-Bee; p.34)

“…there is no knowledge that is not power.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

(Society And Solitude: Twelve Chapters By Ralph Waldo Emerson, James R. Osgood And Company, 1875, Old Age; p.287)