The quotations of

Ralph Waldo Emerson

American philosopher

1803–1882

102 quotes, most often on Friendship, Nature and Beauty. Part of the Poets collection.

We are shut up in schools and college recitation rooms for ten or fifteen years, and come out at last with a bellyful of words and do not know a thing.
- Education
Let the river roll which way it will, cities will rise on its banks.
- Nature
The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.
The Conduct of Life (1860), Worship
- Honor
Rings and jewels are not gifts but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of yourself.
- Charity
The best of life is conversation, and the greatest success is confidence, or perfect understanding between two people.
- Talking
The secret of education is respecting the pupil.
- Education
The days … come and go like muffled and veiled figures, sent from a distant friendly party; but they say nothing, and if we do not use the gifts they bring, they carry them as silently away.
Society and Solitude (1870), Works and Days
- Time
You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity.
The Conduct of Life (1860), Fate
- Animals
- Food
We do not count a man’s years until he has nothing else to count.
Society and Solitude (1870), Old Age
- Age
Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.
Society and Solitude (1870), Works and Days
- Happiness
- Time
Character is higher than intellect… A great soul will be strong to live, as well as strong to think.
The American Scholar (1837), par. 27
- Character
Things are pretty, graceful, rich, elegant, handsome, but, until they speak to the imagination, not yet beautiful.
The Conduct of Life (1860), Beauty
- Beauty
The thing done avails, and not what is said about it. An original sentence, a step forward, is worth more than all the censures.
English Traits (1856)
- Motivation & Goals
The soul is subject to dollars.
The American Scholar (1837), par. 6
- Money
Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy.
Letters and Social Aims (1876), Social Aims
- Life & Death
- Virtue

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