“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.
“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“It was for beauty that the world was made.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“The true test of civilization is, not the census, nor the size of cities, nor the crops—no, but the kind of man the country turns out.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary sourceMore quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson →
“Genius without education is like silver in the mine.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“I thought she was probably a little crazy. It was all right if she was. I did not care what I was getting into.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary source“Where there is shouting, there is no true knowledge.”
— Leonardo da Vinci Disputed“There’s no one thing that’s true. It’s all true.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary source