Remarkable mind
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Essayist, lecturer and philosopher · 1803–1882
Ralph Waldo Emerson was a central voice in American transcendentalism. Through essays and public lectures he argued for intellectual independence, direct experience of nature and confidence in individual moral judgment, influencing writers including Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman.
Selected works and contributions
- Nature
- Self-Reliance
- The American Scholar
Ideas to explore
- Self-reliance
- Nature
- Individuality
- Character
Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes in the generator
“We are wiser than we know.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Skill to do comes of doing.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Our distrust is very expensive.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
“To be great is to be misunderstood.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Life is a progress, and not a station.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
“We aim above the mark to hit the mark.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Quotations are frequently shortened, translated or misattributed. Verify important quotations against a reliable original or scholarly source before publishing them in academic, journalistic or commercial work.