59 Inspiring Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes on Success

Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of the most quoted people in history. From blogs and social media profiles, you’ll certainly find many drawing inspiration from his words of wisdom.

Best Quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

2. The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

3. A man is what he thinks about all day long.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

4. 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

5. Beware what you set your heart upon. For it surely shall be yours.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

6. The characteristic of a genuine heroism is its persistency.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

7. The first wealth is health.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

10. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

12. Don’t waste life in doubts and fears; spend yourself on the work before you, well assured that the right performance of this hour’s duties will be the best preparation for the hours and ages that will follow it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

13. The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

14. Don’t be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

15. The wise man throws himself on the side of his assailants. It is more his interest than it is theirs to find his weak point.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

16. A man must consider what a rich realm he abdicates when he becomes a conformist.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

18. Courage charms us, because it indicates that a man loves an idea better than all things in the world, that he is thinking neither of his bed, nor his dinner, nor his money, but will venture all to put in act the invisible thought of his mind.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

19. Be silly. Be honest. Be kind.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

20. The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

21. Life is a succession of lessons, which must be lived to be understood.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

22. The less government we have, the better — the fewer laws, and the less confided power.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

24. Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

25. The great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

26. 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 lived well.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

27. All our progress is an unfolding, like the vegetable bud. You have first an instinct, then an opinion, then a knowledge, as the plant has root, bud, and fruit.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

28. What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

29. When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

30. Success treads on every right step. For the instinct is sure, that prompts him to tell his brother what he thinks. He then learns, that in going down into the secrets of his own mind, he has descended into the secrets of all minds.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

32. So much of our time is spent in preparation, so much in routine, and so much in retrospect, that the amount of each person’s genius is confined to a very few hours.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

33. Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

34. When a whole nation is roaring Patriotism at the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of its hands and the purity of its heart.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

35. Health is the first muse, and sleep is the condition to produce it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

36. Public opinion, I am sorry to say, will bear a great deal of nonsense. There is scarcely any absurdity so gross, whether in religion, politics, science or manners, which it will not bear.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

37. Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail

Ralph Waldo Emerson

38. It is one light which beams out of a thousand stars. It is one soul which animates all men.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

39. Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

40. People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

41. Our minds travel when our bodies are forced to stay at home.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

42. 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

43. Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

44. Solitude, the safeguard of mediocrity, is to genius the stern friend.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

45. For every thing you have missed, you have gained something else; and for everything you gain, you lose something else.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

46. Everything in nature contains all the power of nature. Everything is made of one hidden stuff.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

48. 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

49. The phrase ‘to know the world,’ or to travel, is synonymous with all men’s ideas of advantage and superiority. No doubt, to a man of sense, travel offers advantages.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

50. Make yourself necessary to somebody. Do not make life hard to any.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

51. 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

52. Don’t choose the better person, choose the person who makes a better you.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

53. 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

54. Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

55. The real and lasting victories are those of peace and not of war.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

56. God will not have his work made manifest by cowards. Always, always, always, always, always do what you are afraid to do. Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

57. Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

58. Every artist was first an amateur.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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