“There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Self-Reliance (Primary source)
Perhaps Emerson’s most famous essay, Self-Reliance passionately urges individuals to trust their own instincts and intuitions rather than conforming to societal pressures or external authorities. It champions nonconformity, self-trust, and the power of the individual. Its famous opening line, Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string, encapsulates its core message.
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“The years teach much which the days never know.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”
— 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 sourceMore quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson →
“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that’s the stuff life is made of.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“You may delay, but time will not.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Time is an herb that cures all diseases.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“If a man owns land, the land owns him.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source