Inspired ...more quotes from Emerson

1. To be great is to be misunderstood.
2. Every sweet has its sour; every evil its good.
3. The ancestor of every action is a thought.
4. Hitch your wagon to a star.
5. A man builds a fine house; and now he has a master, and a task for life; he is to furnish, watch, show it, and keep it in repair, the rest of his days.
6. Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great.
7. That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task itself has become easier, but that our ability to perform it has improved.
8. What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
9. Nature magically suits a man to his fortunes, by making them the fruit of his character.
10. The world belongs to the energetic.
11. Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.
12. What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.
13. Don't waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good.
14. Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
15. The only way to have a friend is to be one.
16. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.
17. Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
18. When you strike at a king, you must kill him.
19. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.
20. Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing.
21. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
22. If I have lost confidence in myself, I have the universe against me.
23. No great man ever complains of want of opportunity.
24. Those who cannot tell what they desire or expect, still sigh and struggle with indefinite thoughts and vast wishes.
25. Whoever is open, loyal, true; of humane and affable demeanour; honourable himself, and in his judgement of others; faithful to his word as to law, and faithful alike to God and man....such a man is a true gentleman.
26. Our chief want in life is somebody who shall make us do what we can.
27. A friend is one before whom I may think aloud.
28. Character is higher than intellect... A great soul will be strong to live, as well as to think.
29. Colleges hate geniuses, just as convents hate saints.
30. Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.
31. Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.
32. In every work of genius we see our own rejected thoughts.
33. People only see what they are prepared to see.
34. So of cheerfulness, or a good temper, the more it is spent, the more it remains.
35. The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil.
36. Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.
37. We take care of our health, we lay up money, we make our roof tight and our clothing sufficient, but who provides wisely that he shall not be wanting the best property of all -- friends?
38. Always do what you are afraid to do.
39. Beauty without grace is the hook without the bait.
40. We become what we think about all day long.
41. Whatever games are played with us, we must play no games with ourselves.
42. You cannot do wrong without suffering wrong.
43. Truth is the summit of being; justice is the application of it to affairs.
44. A man makes inferiors his superiors by heat; self-control is the rule.
45. Self-trust is the essence of heroism.
46. Do what you know and perception is converted into character.
47. Conversation is an art in which a man has all mankind for competitors.
48. When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers.