“Things are pretty, graceful, rich, elegant, handsome, but, until they speak to the imagination, not yet beautiful.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Beauty (Primary source)
In Beauty, Emerson explores how beauty in nature and art reflects a deeper spiritual truth and moral order. He argues that true beauty is not just aesthetic pleasure but a manifestation of the divine, elevating the soul and inspiring virtue.
“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 →
“He that is rich need not live sparingly, and he that can live sparingly, need not be rich.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“A life of leisure, and a life of laziness, are two things.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“All things are easy to industry, all things difficult to sloth.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“When you speak to a man, look on his eyes; when he speaks to thee, look on his mouth.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source