15 Must-Read Quotes On Life From Ralph Waldo Emerson

These quotes (if applied) have the power to change your life

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a well-known philosopher, transcendental poet, and lecturer. He passed away in the late 1800s, leaving behind a lifetimes worth of work focused on self-reliance, building character, and how to be your best self.

Waldo’s most popular lecture, titled Self-Reliance, teaches the importance of avoiding conformity, and to follow one’s own instincts and ideas.

Through his work, I learned to be a better person, to believe in myself, to believe in others, and to find a more profound sense of meaning and purpose in life.

I’d like to share some of my favorite quotes from Waldo, hoping that they’ll have the same effect on you as they did on me.

I’ve spent some time pondering if I should add my own interpretations, but Emerson’s quotes are self-defining as is, and I feel like my perspective might do harm and take away from your own. Therefore, I’ll be listing the quotes with zero interpretation.

The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be

Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force, that thoughts rule the world

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

Life is a journey, not a destination

He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life

What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside you

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could do. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense

Don’t be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams

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

Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have fo win it

A man is what he thinks about all day long

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well

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

Better to know a few things which are useful and necessary than many things which are useful and mediocre

To finish off the list, I’d like to add a piece from my favorite lecture done in 1870.

“Write it on your heart that everyday is the best day in the year. He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety. Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in. Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterday’s” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1870