Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes about Wisdom

Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to

Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life, Wise, Wisdom

Essays "Self-Reliance" (1841)

The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Inspirational, Life, Wisdom

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1981). “The Portable Emerson: New Edition”, p.60, Penguin

The years teach much which the days never know.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Inspirational, Life, Wisdom

'Essays. Second Series' (1844) 'Experience'

Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Inspirational, Confidence, Wisdom

Freedom is not the right to live as we please, but the right to find how we ought to live in order to fulfill our potential.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wisdom, Freedom, Order

The world is plentiful with honey, but only the humble bee can collect it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wisdom, Humble, Intelligence

If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Education, Wisdom, Book

Ralph Waldo Emerson (2010). “Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Volume VIII: Letters and Social Aims”, p.93, Harvard University Press

Society is always taken by surprise at any new example of common sense.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wise, Wisdom, Taken

Ralph Waldo Emerson (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Illustrated)”, p.3128, Delphi Classics

Life is a festival only to the wise.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life, Wise, Wisdom

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt McLaughlin (2010). “The Laws of Nature: Excerpts from the Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson”, p.48, North Atlantic Books

Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Positive, Wise, Wisdom

The sum of wisdom is that time is never lost that is devoted to work.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wisdom, Time, Work

Ralph Waldo Emerson (2008). “The Spiritual Emerson: Essential Works by Ralph Waldo Emerson”, p.99, Penguin

There is a time when a man distinguishes the idea of felicity from the idea of wealth; it is the beginning of wisdom.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wisdom, Men, Ideas

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1963). “The Journals and Miscellaneous Notebooks of Ralph Waldo Emerson”, p.209, Harvard University Press

To make knowledge valuable, you must have the cheerfulness of wisdom.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wisdom, Knowledge, Valuable

Ralph Waldo Emerson (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Illustrated)”, p.2367, Delphi Classics

One man's justice is another's injustice; one man's beauty another's ugliness; one man's wisdom anpther's folly.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wisdom, Men, Justice

Wisdom is like electricity. There is no permanently wise man, but men capable of wisdom, who, being put into certain company, or other favorable conditions, become wise for a short time, as glasses rubbed acquire electric power for a while.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wise, Wisdom, Men

Ralph Waldo Emerson (2005). “The Selected Lectures of Ralph Waldo Emerson”, p.143, University of Georgia Press

Every moment instructs, and every object; for wisdom is infused into every form. It has been poured into us as blood; it convulsed us as pain; it slid into us as pleasure; it enveloped us in dull, melancholy days, or in days of cheerful labor; we did not guess its essence until after long time.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wisdom, Pain, Essence

Ralph Waldo Emerson (2016). “Essays”, p.142, Open Road Media

Many times the reading of a book has made the future of a man.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wisdom, Time, Future

Half a man's wisdom goes with his courage.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Inspirational, Wisdom, Courage

Ralph Waldo Emerson (2005). “The Selected Lectures of Ralph Waldo Emerson”, p.292, University of Georgia Press

A cheerful intelligent face is the end of culture, and success enough. For it indicates the purpose of Nature and wisdom attained.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happiness, Success, Wisdom

Ralph Waldo Emerson (2009). “The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson”, p.656, Modern Library

There are many things of which a wise man might wish to be ignorant

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wise, Wisdom, Ignorance

Ralph Waldo Emerson (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Illustrated)”, p.2694, Delphi Classics

Knowledge is the antidote to fear

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tattoo, Spiritual, Wisdom

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1971). “The Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Society and solitude”, p.132, Harvard University Press

Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wisdom, May, Soil

Who shall forbid a wise skepticism, seeing that there is no practical question on which anything more than an approximate solution can be had?

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wise, Wisdom, Skepticism

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Robert Ernest Spiller, Alfred Riggs Ferguson, Wallace E. Williams, Joseph Slater (1987). “The Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Representative men: seven lectures”, p.89, Harvard University Press