Ralph Waldo Emerson

The desire of gold is not for gold. It is not the love of much wheat, and wool and household stuff. It is the means of freedom and benefit.

As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way.

The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.

Every experiment, by multitudes or by individuals, that has a sensual and selfish aim, will fail.

Beauty without grace is the hook without the bait.

Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.

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

The reason why the world lacks unity, and lies broken and in heaps, is, because man is disunited with himself.

Death comes to all, but great achievements build a monument which shall endure until the sun grows cold.

A man's growth is seen in the successive choirs of his friends.

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

Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes.

In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine.

One single idea may have greater weight than all the men, animals, and machines for a century.

It is not length of life, but depth of life.

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.

All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.

The sower may mistake and sow his peas crookedly; the peas make no mistake, but come up and show his line.

A man is the facade of a temple wherein all wisdom and all good abide.

A vivid thought brings the power to paint it; and in proportion to the depth of its source is the force of its projection.

True friends are two people who are comfortable sharing silence together.