Ralph Waldo Emerson
US essayist & poet (1803 - 1882)
Children are all foreigners.
The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.
Truth is beautiful, without doubt; but so are lies.
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
Hitch your wagon to a star.
Every artist was first an amateur.
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.
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.
Wit makes its own welcome, and levels all distinctions. No dignity, no learning, no force of character, can make any stand against good wit.
Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great.
That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task itself has become easier, but that our ability to perform it has improved.
Being perfectly well-dressed gives a feeling of tranquility that religion is powerless to bestow.
The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization.