Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance And Other Essays Quotes

I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching.

Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.

To be great is to be misunderstood.

My life is for itself and not for a spectacle.

A mind might ponder its thought for ages, and not gain so much self-knowledge as the passion of love shall teach it in a day.

The student is to read history actively not passively.

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.

I do not wish to expiate, but to live. My life is not an apology, but a life.

What I must do is all that concerns me,

You would compliment a coxcomb doing a good act, but you would not praise an angel.