Ralph Waldo Emerson:
(Boston, 25 May 1803 – Concord, 27 April 1882)
American essayist and one of the most influential thinkers of the United States, who particularly emphasised individualism.
As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way.
When summer opens, I see how fast it matures and fears it will be short, but after the heats of July and August, I am reconciled, like one who has had his swing to the cool of autumn.
Love is like wildflowers; it’s often found in the most unlikely places.
What lies behind us and what lies before us are nothing compared to what lies within us.
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.
In these divine pleasures permitted to me of walks in the June night under moon and stars, I can put my life as a fact before me and stand aloof from its honor and shame.
Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting some on yourself.
What potent blood hath modest May.
Where shall we keep the holiday and duly greet the entering May?
Only that human being is capable of the highest degree of friendship who can live without it.
Good luck is another name for tenacity of purpose.
Good thoughts are no better than good dreams, unless they be executed.
The world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension waiting to be struck.
The only way to have a friend is to be one.
Most of the shadows of life are caused by standing in our own sunshine.
The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.
Truth is the property of no individual but is the treasure of all men.
The nobler the truth or sentiment, the less imports the question of authorship.
Truth is too simple for us: we do not like those who unmask our illusions.
The April winds are magical, And thrill our tuneful frames. The garden-walks are passional, To bachelors and dames.
Our life is March weather, savage and serene in one hour.
The sky is the ultimate art gallery just above us.
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
