10 Inspiring Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes: I love the collection of quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson. Each of these quotes makes you think and reflect on how they can impact your life. Themes from these quotes follow success, failure, identifying your purpose and self-confidence, etc. In this collection, I want to talk about 10 favourite quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Before going into the collection, I want to talk about the one about fear: It is a wise counsel – always do what you’re afraid to do. Quite simple isn’t it? Although we’ve all been taught to be brave, our experiences induce a level of fear within us. We get so good at avoiding these fears that we sometimes forget that it compromises the adventurous spirit in us. It is a fair challenge to balance these two to make sure that you define a life of your choice to live in your terms.

Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

In this section, I want to focus on these 10 quotes and a small reflection on what these quotes mean. The most important aspect of these inspirational quotes is to understand how they impact our lives. If these quotes don’t challenge our thoughts and force us to go beyond our limiting thoughts – then they don’t ahcieve a good purpose. With these thoughts in mind, lets dive straight into Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes for some inspiration.

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

This quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson asks you to forget your past, present and future terminology for a minute. Think about the person you are and what you want to be. Focus inward and understand what your life means. Most importantly, what do you want this to be?

Our past represents either opportunities or challenges or even reasons for why we couldn’t do some things. However, these are very tiny – there is an aspect about human resolve and a fascinating discovery of who all you can be. The source of thought lies within you and so does your story of life.

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Do not go where the path might lead you, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail

The path can lead you to nowhere and it can be as horrible as entropy and eventual death. Life doesn’t change on its own. If you do nothing about the challenges or situations you’re presented with, they’ll take a course of action which leads you nowhere. You may like it but not something which you defined or carved a path for.

Do not go where the path takes you – it is not yours. It can be created either by your peers, social group or someone else. Even with the best intentions, no one knows what your life can hold. Only you can find out the internal aspirations and magical feeling of purpose of your life. Don’t fall into the trap of following a set path just for the sake of it. You can’t afford to do disservice to your thoughts, desires and dreams. These dreams come first. Everything else is secondary.

Do not go where the path might lead you, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail

Ralph Waldo Emerson

To be yourself in the world that is constantly trying to make you someone else is the greatest accomplishment

This might be a cliche, but its never easy to be yourself. The world constantly gives you feedback about the role models to follow, accomplishments to achieve etc. It tells you to make more money, lead a glamorous lifestyle and go after all the glorious things that’s constantly marketed to us.

But we need to stop and ask ourselves – do these reflect the values we want to lead our lives with (Related: Inspirational quotes on being yourself). Sharing common goals with the world is not a bad thing, but these have to be driven by you. It is a challenge but a worthy one. Nothing happens on its own and this relates to being yourself too. You need constant work to make it happen.

To be yourself in the world that is constantly trying to make you someone else is the greatest accomplishment

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising up every time we fail

Success and failure are two sides of the same coin. Recalling Winston Churchill’s definition – Success is not final, failure is not fatal. You’ve got to have both of these in a balanced life. If you succeed in everything, then your goals might just be too easy. The point is not to be succeeding. The point is to lead a life of fulfilment.

I believe that these Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes are centrally based on a theme of your life and values. You cannot let the individuality suffer in these definitions and limit your possibilities in life. Some of these will take conscious effort and sometimes even standing up to the people who don’t believe in you. So what? Don’t you owe that much to your own aspirations, desires and dreams?

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising up every time we fail

Ralph Waldo Emerson

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say

Well! Actions speak louder than words. You must have heard this quotee in so many shapes and forms that it has become a cliche now. Good thoughts, don’t matter as long as you don’t put them into action. The could be, if only’s act as an excuse but don’t get you what you really want.

The next time you find yourself wrapped in these thoughts of romanticism or rationalizations, do remember Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say

Ralph Waldo Emerson

A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer

I like this quote because it talks abotu perseverance, convction and just going on. This reminds me of Randy Pausch’s quote – the brick walls are there for a reason. You’ve only got to break them down to achieve what you really need. Nothing in our lives is going to be easy.

We’ve got to fight with loads of conviction for what we truly believe in. The moment fight stops, our quest for our goals and dreams also stops. If you’re convinced with that, then its absolutely fine. But it needs to be your decision rather than passing the responsibility on to something else.

A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer

Ralph Waldo Emerson

All life is an experiment, the more experiments you make, the better

You’ve got to try different things – that’s the only way we can allow our lives to have diverse experiences. Each time we want to do something new, thousands of questions pop up in our mind – is it practical? what are the risks? should I do it?

Instead, shouldn’t we be asking these questions?

• How badly do I feel for this?
• Am I passionate about this? What does the pursuit of this new thing make me feel?

It is all about the questions we ask ourselves and wisdom is merely an outcome of experience. The more diverse things we do, the richer our lvies become and in fact better.

All life is an experiment, the more experiments you make, the better

Ralph Waldo Emerson

People do not seem to realize that their own opinion of the world is also a confession of character

People do not seem to realize that their own opinion of the world is also a confession of character

Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are other measures of self-respect for a man than the number of clean shirts he puts on every day

There are other measures of self-respect for a man than the number of clean shirts he puts on every day

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Do the thing we fear and the death of fear is certain.

Do the thing we fear and the death of fear is certain.

Ralph Waldo Emerson