“Standing on the bare ground—my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space—all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Nature (Primary source)
This is considered Emerson’s foundational text and the cornerstone of American Transcendentalism. In it, he outlines his philosophy of nature as a source of spiritual insight and a mirror to the human soul. It calls for an original relation to the universe and a rejection of traditional ways of understanding the world.
“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 →
“A man being sometimes more generous when he has but a little money than when he has plenty, perhaps through fear of being thought to have but little.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“He did not care for the lying at first. He hated it. Then later he had come to like it. It was part of being an insider but it was a very corrupting business.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary source“Being able to recognize that you are wrong is a godsend.”
— Charlie Munger Primary source“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Disputed