Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship."

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

"Philosophically considered, the universe is composed of Nature and the Soul. Strictly speaking, therefore, all that is separate from us, all which Philosophy distinguishes as the 'Not Me,' that is, both nature and art, all other men and my own body, must be ranked under this name, 'Nature.'"

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

"Belief consists in accepting the affirmations of the soul; unbelief, in denying them."

"The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common."

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

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

"All mankind love a lover."

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

"All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen."

"Men love to wonder, and that is the seed of science."

"That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do, not that the nature of the thing has changed but that our power to do has increased."

"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."

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

"Tis the good reader that makes the good book; in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakenly meant for his ear; the profit of books is according to the sensibility of the reader; the profoundest thought or passion sleeps as in a mine, until it is discovered by an equal mind and heart."

"The crowning fortune of a man is to be born to some pursuit which finds him employment and happiness, whether it be to make baskets, or broadswords, or canals, or statues, or songs."

"Books are for nothing but to inspire"

"His heart was as great as the world, but there was no room in it to hold the memory of a wrong"

"Faith and love are apt to be spasmodic in the best minds. Men live the brink of mysteries and harmonies into which they never enter, and with their hands on the door-latch they die outside."