“He who has put forth his total strength in fit actions has the richest return of wisdom.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The American Scholar (Primary source)
Delivered as a commencement address at Harvard, this speech was famously dubbed America’s Intellectual Declaration of Independence by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., an American polymath. Emerson urged American intellectuals to break free from European traditions and cultivate a uniquely American voice and scholarship, emphasizing the role of the scholar as Man Thinking.
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“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 →
“The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.”
— William Blake Primary source“Words may show a man’s wit, but actions his meaning.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“The essence of friendship is entireness, a total magnanimity and trust.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“He that can have patience can have what he will.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source