Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes: This article is a collection of inspiring quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson. With Emerson being a strong promoter of individualism, most of these quotes talk about going outside the norms of the cultural or social barriers. These quotes inspire us to find and define our own path.
Who is Ralph Waldo Emerson?
Ralph Waldo Emerson – the poet, lecturer and essayist- is mostly known for his words. His words, philosophies and thoughts continue to linger even to this day and one cannot say enough about their impact on us. As an ode to this personality, we present you with 10 handpicked quotes for your life which will set you into a thought and perhaps a relevant action. Ref:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson
Without much ado, here are 10 realistic Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes
Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes
Here is a gallery of quotes that you can find from Ralph Waldo Emerson across this website.
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail
Creating your own destiny! – a dream which most of us possess. We all come to this world with our own thoughts and inhibitions. Somewhere along the line, these inhibitions get the better of us and we start responding to society and its demands and slowly transform ourselves. Although it is a great way to fit in, we also sacrifice what is most unique about us.
Yes! – A tried and tested path will give you tried and tested results, there are few risks since you can be prepared for what is in store. At the same time, the results and the outcomes are also limited. Higher the risks – Greater the winnings, kinda like the casinos!!
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment
This is so true, isn’t it? All through our lives, we are constantly influenced by the people around us – our teachers, parents, friends, peers and society – they all have such a huge impact on how we are shaped. It is not the easiest thing to stand up against all of them and state our values out loud and maintain an allegiance towards them.
Granted that a few of them change with time, granted that we also start thinking differently, the question always is how much of it is a sacrifice in your values and at what cost. We are not recommending ignoring the people around you, but we do recommend being conscious about it because sometimes a lot of things happen around us without our knowledge.
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment
What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you
There is a consistency of challenges in this world. As we grow further, the challenges get tougher and naturally we get stronger. But there will be times when the challenges get so overwhelming that they make us doubt ourselves and ask whether we are capable of stepping out of our comfort zone to achieve that.
It is at those times when our strength is truly tested and when we are asked to believe in ourselves when everything around us points the other way. Well, we all have to believe in something right? Then why not believe in something which brings the best out of you?
What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you
Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail – Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes
I think sometimes we get hung up on a few words such as glory, success and never being wrong. But life is a constant journey as this quote rightly reminds us. We can’t achieve bigger things if we keep worrying about failure.
We all fail, we all make mistakes and there are outcomes for which we are never prepared. But making mistakes is also the freedom that we create for ourselves. If we don’t take things easy or find a way to move forward, we can get stuck in the relics of the past. And we all know that there’s no progress from that.
Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
Life would have been fairly simple if we all had a plan written in front of us explaining the steps we need to take and the results expected. I guess we all do that with our lives, we all have plans and also work towards them. The only difference is that the results are not always the way we expect them!
That is where the beauty of experiment comes into place. We will have to make amends, we have to change the approach and listen to the feedback around us – sometimes it makes sense and sometimes it doesn’t. We have to be mindful that it is our life and our decision and these decisions and experiments give us something incredibly invaluable. It is worth a shot!
All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.
We talked in length about The 7 important steps to make better decisions where we focus on decision-making as the core value. Although the books tell us that we should consider all options and whatnot, we all know that there is never going to be the perfect decision.
At the same time, we cannot afford to be afraid of the decisions – they are going to work for us in ways which we cannot imagine, and there are going to be those additional resources which we would have not thought of. It is almost like the Alchemist says – the entire universe is going to conspire to make that something happen for you if you are committed enough.
Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.
Who you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you’re saying.
Words are cheap! That is what people always say because when words are not accompanied by relevant actions, they are going to mean literally nothing. This quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson reminds me of a powerful quote by Maya Angelou which talks about people
We have all come across those people, who constantly rant and say things that they are going to do and even after years they still end up talking about it – the reason is pretty simple – words are easy, and they don’t take too much commitment. But actions do, they always do!
Who you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you’re saying.
For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.
This again borders on our decision making post. There is never going to be a way where we are going to get everything in life. There are going to be losses, there are going to be gains. As maximizers, we are looking out for options that will reduce our losses and increase our gains. So the one suggestion for decision making is – be prepared to give up something so that you have enough space to gain from the outcomes.
For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.
Use what language you will, you can never say anything but what you are.
Language can be a very good deception at times, it can make someone appear extremely classy and someone brute. But if you look a little further, ask that question for yourself – does it matter in the long run? In the end, all that matters is what you are as a person and people are going to rate your words based on that.
You may be a man of action or a man of words or a man of both. But as long as you don’t gel it with your character, it is not going to make much sense.
Use what language you will, you can never say anything but what you are.
A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.
I think this is my favourite one of all and perhaps that is the reason why we decide to end with this quote. Every one is afraid of something or the other, everyone has a challenge which is too big for them. Giving up on a challenge is fairly easier, but push on it a few more minutes longer and that is usually enough because most of your competition would have given up by then.
These were our top 10 Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes. Please share with us your favourite and let us know if you think we have missed something which ought to be on the list and we will be more than happy to make amends.
A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.
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Wonderful collection of thoughts and very inspirational post Vinay. Good work….:)
Thank you Priyashi :).. Happy you liked the quotes, I find his thoughts extremely profound, they always set me into a thought process.
Agree in saying thank-you for writing yhis post Vinay. I have always found his words wise as well as moving. I learnt early from him that “it’s the depth of life and not the length of life ” and that “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
Loved the Action vs Words one .Enjoyed the post :)
Thank you kokila :), same here – absolutely love his quotes – very powerful stuff.
A great post Vinay! Thanks for sharing such motivational post with us. :)
Thank you Kokila, Ralph waldo emerson sure has a way with words :)
Yes, last is my favorite too. And third is something that has calming effect on my senses. As Somali said, thanks for writing this post.
Thank you Saru, for me the best one is the actions vs words, it kinda sums up everything for me.. His words are equally powerful with every theme he selects. No wonder he continues to be an inspiration even to this day
A wonderful post. Thanks for sharing these beautiful and motivating quotes :)
Thank you Purba, nice to know you liked the quotes :)
Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes are so inspirational. Though its hard to pick one over the other, still if I have to I would go with ‘Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.’ Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Somali, that one particular quote reminds me of the Alchemist over and over again. Or maybe he was inspired by that