The gift, to be true, must be the flowing of the giver unto me, correspondent to my flowing unto him.
Ralph Waldo EmersonWhat is addressed to us for contemplation does not threaten us, but makes us intellectual beings.
Ralph Waldo EmersonSociety cannot do without cultivated men. As soon as the first wants are satisfied, the higher wants become imperative.
Ralph Waldo EmersonThe universe is the externisation of the soul. Wherever the life is, that bursts into appearance around it. Our science is sensual, and therefore superficial. The earth, and the heavenly bodies, physics, and chemistry, we sensually treat, as if they were self-existent; but these are the retinue of that Being we have.
Ralph Waldo EmersonTo this military attitude of the soul we give the name of Heroism... It is a self-trust which slights the restraints of prudence, in the plenitude of its energy and power to repair the harms it may suffer. The hero is a mind of such balance that no disturbances can shake his will.
Ralph Waldo Emerson