“To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men—that is genius.”
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.
“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“The years teach much which the days never know.”
— 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 source“The only way to have a friend is to be one.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary sourceMore quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson →
“He that can have patience can have what he will.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt Disputed“Where there is shouting, there is no true knowledge.”
— Leonardo da Vinci Disputed“A fine genius in his own country, is like gold in the mine.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source