One more royal trait properly belongs to the poet. I mean his cheerfulness, without which no man can be a poet,--for beauty is his aim. He loves virtue, not for its obligation, but for its grace; he delights in the world, in man, in woman, for the lovely light that sparkles from them. Beauty, the spirit of joy and hilarity, he sheds over the universe.
Ralph Waldo EmersonNo matter how much faculty of idle seeing a man has, the step from knowing to doing is rarely taken.
Ralph Waldo EmersonWe do what we must, and call it by the best names we can, and would fain have the praise of having intended the result which ensues.
Ralph Waldo EmersonNext to the originator of a good sentence is the first quoter of it. Many will read the book before one thinks of quoting a passage. As soon as he has done this, that line will be quoted east and west.
Ralph Waldo Emerson