“Life is our dictionary.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
A beautiful articulation of the belief that all of life’s experiences contribute to a scholar’ understanding.
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“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 source“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary sourceMore quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson →
“Life is a journey, not a destination.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Disputed“A long life may not be good enough, but a good life is long enough.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Life wastes itself while we are preparing to live.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source