A vivid description of human growth and the continuous expansion of our understanding and being.
Circles (Primary source)
In this essay, Emerson discusses the idea that everything in life is constantly expanding and evolving, like concentric circles. It emphasizes the fluid and ever-changing nature of truth and knowledge.
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“The only way to have a friend is to be one.”
— 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 →
“No man ever was glorious who was not laborious.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Life is our dictionary.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“The motive of science was the extension of man, on all sides, into Nature, till his hands should touch the stars.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“Life is a journey, not a destination.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Disputed