Ralph Waldo Emerson

"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."

"He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life."

"Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures."

"Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting some on yourself."

"None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone."

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

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

"People do not deserve good writing, they are so pleased with bad."

"What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say."

"If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads."

"Life consists of what man is thinking about all day."

"The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil."

"We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities."

"What can we see, read, acquire, but ourselves. Take the book, my friend, and read your eyes out, you will never find there what I find."

"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air."

"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."

"A sect or party is an elegant incognito devised to save a man from the vexation of thinking."

"Pictures must not be too picturesque."

"What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you."

"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."