Ralph Waldo Emerson

Society is always taken by surprise at any new example of common sense.

In the morning a man walks with his whole body; in the evening, only with his legs.

Beauty without expression is boring.

Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors.

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.

The desire of gold is not for gold. It is for the means of freedom and benefit.

Every artist was first an amateur.

The earth laughs in flowers.

There was never a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him to sleep.

Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great.

For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.

The greatest gift is a portion of thyself.

An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.

Enthusiasm is the mother of effort, and without it nothing great was ever achieved.

Flowers... are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world.

Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures.

Everything in Nature contains all the powers of Nature. Everything is made of one hidden stuff.

We are a puny and fickle folk. Avarice, hesitation, and following are our diseases.

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

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