Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be."

"If a man write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mouse-trap than his neighbour, tho' he build his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door."

"Curiosity is lying in wait for every secret."

"The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honourable, to be compassionate; to have it makes some difference that you have lived and lived well."

"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars."

"Blame is safer than praise."

"Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted."

"It is of the most beautiful compensation of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself."

"A man is what he thinks about all day long"

"I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second is frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others. Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men."

"Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude."

"If you serve an ungrateful master serve him the more. Put God in your debt. Every stroke shall be repaid. The longer the payment is withheld, the better for you, for compound interest on compound interest is the rate and usage of this exchequer."

"A great man is always willing to be little."

"Envy is ignorance."

"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail."

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

"Poverty, Frost, Famine, Rain, Disease, are the beadles and guardsmen that hold us to common sense."