“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.
“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“It was for beauty that the world was made.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“The true test of civilization is, not the census, nor the size of cities, nor the crops—no, but the kind of man the country turns out.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary sourceMore quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson →
“There was never a good knife made of bad steel.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Disputed“When you’re good to others, you are best to yourself.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source