Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

"To fill the hour──that is happiness."

"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."

"There is one other reason for dressing well, namely that dogs respect it, and will not attack you in good clothes."

"Some books leave us free and some books make us free."

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

"If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years how man would marvel and adore."

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

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."

"I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me."

"You become what you think about all day long."

"In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine."

"Shallow men believe in luck or in circumstance. Strong men believe in cause and effect."

"The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil. It is not for you to choose what he shall know, what he shall do. It is chosen and foreordained and he only holds the key to his own secret."

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

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

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

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

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

"In the highest civilization, the book is still the highest delight. He who has once known its satisfactions is provided with a resource against calamity."