“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 reward of a thing well done, is to have done it.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“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“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary sourceMore quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson →
“Insist on yourself; never imitate.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“There was never a good knife made of bad steel.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“When you’re good to others, you are best to yourself.”
— 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