“Be yourself; no base imitator of another, but your best self. There is something which you can do better than another. Listen to the inward voice and bravely obey that. Do the things at which you are great, not what you were never made for.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
This quote is commonly attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, but I have not been able to locate a primary source. Use with caution in academic or professional contexts.
“The law of nature is, do the thing, and you shall have the power: but they who do not the thing have not the power.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“The years teach much which the days never know.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“The only way to have a friend is to be one.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary sourceMore quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson →
“Never interrupt someone doing something you said couldn’t be done.”
— Amelia Earhart Disputed“Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.”
— Thomas Jefferson Primary source“There was never a good knife made of bad steel.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet. Then all things are at risk.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source