36 of the Greatest Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century.

He was seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society, and he disseminated his thoughts through dozens of published essays and more than 1,500 public lectures across the United States.

We’ve put together this collection of the best Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes:

36 Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

1. “Be not the slave of your own past – plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with new self-respect, with new power, and with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

2. “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

3. “For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

4. “If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

5. “It is not the length of life, but the depth.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

6. “Life is short, but there is always time enough for courtesy.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

7. “Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in one’s own sunshine.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

8. “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

9. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising up every time we fail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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10. “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

11. “Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

12. “Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you, you have to win it.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

13. “Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

14. “Don’t be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

15. “Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

16. “It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

17. “Let us be silent that we may hear the whisper of God.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

18. “Make the most of yourself…for that is all there is of you.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

19. “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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20. “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

21. “People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

22. “The only way to have a friend is to be one.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

23. “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

24. “Write it on your heart that everyday is the best day in the year.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson 

25. “Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

26. “Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in. Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

27. “Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting some on yourself.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

28. “It is easy to live for others, everybody does. I call on you to live for yourself.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

29. “Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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30. “Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

31. “Nothing external to you has any power over you.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

32. “Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

33. “The good news is that the moment you decide that what you know is more important than what you have been taught to believe, you will have shifted gears in your quest for abundance. Success comes from within, not from without.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

34. “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and you have lived well.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

35. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

36. “You become what you think about all day long.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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