100 Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes (On Life And Self-Reliance)

Top 10 Quotes – Life – Nature – Self-Reliance – Visual – Takeaways – Further Readings

Here are 100 of the best Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes.

But first, who was Emerson (1803–1882)?

• An American philosopher and essayist
• A key figure who shaped American literature, influencing thinkers like Thoreau, Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Nietzsche, and Gandhi
• A speaker who delivered over 1,500 lectures

What you’ll learn from him?

• The art of self-reliance
• The value of personal growth
• The deep connection between humans and nature

I first discovered Emerson in 2004, and his ideas on nature, wisdom, and self-reliance immediately captivated me.

He’s one of the few authors I return to time and time again.

I hope his words inspire you as much as they have inspired me.

Enjoy!

Top 10 Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

A great man is always willing to be little. Ralph Waldo Emerson (Compensation, Essay)

A man is what he thinks about all day long. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Beware what you set your heart upon. For it surely shall be yours. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Good luck is another name for tenacity of purpose. Ralph Waldo Emerson

With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes About Life, Happiness

Life is a progress, and not a station. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hitch your wagon to a star. Ralph Waldo Emerson

To fill the hour – that is happiness. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The health of the eye seems to demand a horizon. We are never tired, so long as we can see far enough. Ralph Waldo Emerson (Nature, Essay)

Let us be silent, that we may hear the whisper of God. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy is the house that shelters a friend. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The first wealth is health. Ralph Waldo Emerson

One of the illusions of life is that the present hour is not the critical, decisive hour. Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. No man has learned anything rightly, until he knows that every day is Doomsday. Ralph Waldo Emerson

So is cheerfulness, or a good temper, the more it is spent, the more remains. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Be silly. Be honest. Be kind. Ralph Waldo Emerson

A moment is a concentrated eternity. Ralph Waldo Emerson

If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years how man would marvel and adore. Ralph Waldo Emerson

He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety. Ralph Waldo Emerson

We walk alone in the world. Friends, such as we desire, are dreams and fables. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The reward of a thing well done is to have done it. Ralph Waldo Emerson

I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life is a succession of lessons, which must be lived to be understood. Ralph Waldo Emerson

A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise, shall give him no peace. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy is the hearing man; unhappy the speaking man. Ralph Waldo Emerson

And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

I do not wish more external goods, — neither possessions, nor honors, nor powers, nor persons. The gain is apparent; the tax is certain. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Make yourself necessary to the world, and mankind will give you bread, and if not store of it, yet such as shall not take away your property in all men’s possessions, in all men’s affections, in art, in nature, and in hope. Ralph Waldo Emerson

He cannot be happy and strong until he too lives with nature in the present, above time. Ralph Waldo Emerson

What your heart thinks is great, is great. The soul’s emphasis is always right. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Do not be too timid and squeamish about your reactions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. Ralph Waldo Emerson

‘Tis curious that we only believe as deeply as we live. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

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

It is not length of life, but depth of life. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes About Nature

Nature always wears the colors of the spirit. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson

There is a property in the horizon which no man has but he whose eye can integrate all the parts, that is, the poet. Ralph Waldo Emerson

What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nature is a mutable cloud which is always and never the same. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Everything in nature contains all the power of nature. Everything is made of one hidden stuff. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The ancient precept, “Know thyself”, and the modern precept, “Study nature”, become at last one maxim. Ralph Waldo Emerson (The American Scholar)

Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn. Ralph Waldo Emerson

If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit. The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood. Ralph Waldo Emerson

To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature. Most persons do not see the sun. At least they have a very superficial seeing. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nature hates monopolies and exceptions. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The world globes itself in a drop of dew. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn. Ralph Waldo Emerson

But if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars. The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and vulgar things. Ralph Waldo Emerson (Nature, Essay)

Let us draw a lesson from nature, which always works by short ways. When the fruit is ripe, it falls. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The greatest wonder is that we can see these trees and not wonder more. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes About Self-Reliance

A man must consider what a rich realm he abdicates when he becomes a conformist. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Self-command is the main elegance. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Our strength grows out of our weakness. Ralph Waldo Emerson (Compensation, Essay)

An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The years teach much which the days never know. Ralph Waldo Emerson (Essays: Second Series)

We acquire the strength we have overcome. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Self-reliance, the height and perfection of man, is reliance on God. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Solitude, the safeguard of mediocrity, is to genius the stern friend. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Make the most of yourself for that is all there is of you. Ralph Waldo Emerson

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Speak the truth, and all nature and all spirits help you with unexpected furtherance. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it. Ralph Waldo Emerson

We judge of man’s wisdom by his hope. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Great men exist that there may be greater men. Ralph Waldo Emerson (Representative Men)

The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force, that thoughts rule the world. Ralph Waldo Emerson

None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles. Ralph Waldo Emerson (Self-Reliance and Other Essays)

If the single man plant himself indomitably on his instincts, and there abide, the huge world will come round to him. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Better to know a few things which are good and necessary than many things which are useless and mediocre. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Do not yet see, that, if the single man plant himself indomitably on his instincts, and there abide, the huge world will come round to him. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Trust the instinct to the end, though you can render no reason. It is vain to hurry it. By trusting it to the end it shall ripen into truth, and you shall know why you believe. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Self-trust is the first secret of success. Ralph Waldo Emerson

To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men — that is genius. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events. Great men have always done so. Ralph Waldo Emerson

I will so trust that what is deep is holy, that I will do strongly before the sun and moon whatever only rejoices me, and the heart appoints. Ralph Waldo Emerson

A complete man should need no auxiliaries to his personal presence. Ralph Waldo Emerson

On Henry David Thoreau: He chose to be rich by making his wants few, and supplying them himself. Ralph Waldo Emerson

If a man own land, the land owns him. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Conclusion

If we follow the truth, it will bring us out safe at last. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Visual For Ralph Waldo Emerson

Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The secret to being productive is to work on the right thing — even if it’s at a slow pace. James Clear

It is not the place we occupy which is important, but the direction in which we move. Oliver Wendell Holmes

You must always know what it is that you want. Paulo Coelho

Key Takeaways From Ralph Waldo Emerson

• Trust yourself. “Self-trust is the first secret of success.” Emerson believed that true wisdom comes from within. Instead of seeking approval from others, listen to your own intuition. Follow your unique path.
• Live in the present. “With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now.” Emerson emphasized the importance of being fully engaged in the present moment, rather than dwelling on regrets or worrying about the future.
• Embrace nature. Emerson saw nature as a source of inspiration, wisdom, and peace. Spending time outdoors can help you reconnect with yourself and find clarity in life.
• Stay true to your values. “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” As Emerson advised, authenticity is key to a fulfilling life. Don’t compromise your values just to fit in.
• Keep learning. “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” Personal growth is a lifelong journey. Read, explore, and challenge yourself to become a better version of who you are. Reach your full potential as Emerson suggested.

Further Readings

• Topic: Life And Inspiration
• 130 Inspirational Quotes For Men
• 115 Philosophy Quotes From The Best Philosophers
• 75 Words of Wisdom From The Best Minds (Ever)
• Essays (free online version from gutenberg.org)
• Self-Reliance (Amazon book)
• Other RWE books (Amazon books)

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