Background Image
If You Would Serve Your Brother It Is Fit For You To Serve Him, Do Not Take Back Your Words When You Find That Prudent People Do Not Commend You. Be True To Your Own Act, And Congratulate Yourself If You Have Done Something Strange And Extravagant And Broken The Monotony Of A Decorous Age.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Please Wait....
Translating....

If You Would Serve

Ralph Waldo Emerson
If You Would Serve Your Brother It Is Fit For You To Serve Him, Do Not Take Back Your Words When You Find That Prudent People Do Not Commend You. Be True To Your Own Act, And Congratulate Yourself If You Have Done Something Strange And Extravagant And Broken The Monotony Of A Decorous Age.
Views: 6
Topic
Inspirational
Brother
Hero
More From Ralph Waldo Emerson
For Every Grain Of Wit There Is A Grain Of Folly.
Wit
Grain
Folly
Let Him Go Where He Will, He Can Only Find So Much Beauty Or Worth As He Carries.
Beauty
Let Him Go
Carrie
We Want But Two Or Three Friends, But These We Cannot Do Without, And They Serve Us In Every Thought We Think.
Friends
Thinking
Two
Truth Is The Property Of No Individual But Is The Treasure Of All Men.
Truth
Men
Individuality
In Failing Circumstances No One Can Be Relied On To Keep Their Integrity.
Honesty
Integrity
Failure
Evil Is Merely Privative, Not Absolute: It Is Like Cold, Which Is The Privation Of Beat.
Evil
Cold
Beats
Never Lose An Opportunity Of Seeing Anything Beautiful, For Beauty Is God's Handwriting.
Beauty
Beautiful
Spiritual
Let Ideas Establish Their Legitimate Sway Again In Society, Let Life Be Fair And Poetic, And The Scholars Will Gladly Be Lovers, Citizens, And Philanthropists.
Ideas
Citizens
Lovers
Therefore All Just Persons Are Satisfied With Their Own Praise. They Refuse To Explain Themselves, And Are Content That New Actions Should Do Them That Office. They Believe That We Communicate Without Speech, And Above Speech, And That No Right Action Of Ours Is Quite Unaffecting To Our Friends, At Whatever Distance; For The Influence Of Action Is Not To Be Measured By Miles.
Distance
Believe
Office
Besides The General Infusion Of Wit To Heighten Civility, The Direct Splendor Of Intellectual Power Is Ever Welcome In Fine Society, As The Costliest Addition To Its Rule And Its Credit.
Intellectual
Society
Credit
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.
Mean
Men
Light
Tis A Rule Of Manners To Avoid Exaggeration.
Manners
Exaggeration
Exaggerating
The Only True Gifts Are A Portion Of Yourself.
Portions
True Gifts
The Intelligent Have A Right Over The Ignorant, Namely, The Right Of Instructing Them. The Right Punishment Of One Out Of Tune, Isto Make Him Play In Tune; The Fine Which The Good, Refusing To Govern, Ought To Pay, Is, To Be Governed By A Worse Man; That His Guards Shall Not Handle Gold And Silver, But Shall Be Instructed That There Is Gold And Silver In Their Souls, Which Will Make Men Willing To Give Them Every Thing Which They Need.
Education
Responsibility
Intelligent
If I Cannot Brag Of Knowing Something, Then I Brag Of Not Knowing It; At Any Rate, Brag.
Science
Knowing
Bragging
In Every Company, There Is Not Only The Active And Passive Sex, But, In Both Men And Women, A Deeper And More Important Sex Of Mind, Namely, The Inventive Or Creative Class Of Both Men And Women, And The Uninventive Or Accepting Class.
Leadership
Sex
Men
The Chief Value Of The New Fact Is To Enhance The Great And Constant Fact Of Life.
Knowledge
Facts
Chiefs
You've Got To Be Taught To Be Afraid Of People Whose Eyes Are Oddly Made And People Whose Skin Is A Different Shade.
Eye
People
Skins
Friendship Should Be Surrounded With Ceremonies And Respects, And Not Crushed Into Corners.
Friendship
Should
Ceremony
The Word Liberty In The Mouth Of Mr. Webster Sounds Like The Word Love In The Mouth Of A Courtesan.
Liberty
Sound
Mouths
If We Live Truly, We Shall See Truly.
Positive
Work
Positivity
The House Is A Castle Which The King Cannot Enter.
Kings
Home
House
I Have No Hostility To Nature, But A Child's Love To It. I Expand And Live In The Warm Day Like Corn And Melons.
Love
Children
Corn
A Man Is A God In Ruins. When Men Are Innocent, Life Shall Be Longer, And Shall Pass Into The Immortal, As Gently As We Awake From Dreams.
Dream
Men
Awake At Night
Something Is Wanting To Science Until It Has Been Humanised.
Science
Accounts
Has Beens
Little Minds Have Little Worries, Big Minds Have No Time For Worries.
Inspirational
Attitude
Hard Times
Improve Your Spare Moments And They Will Become The Brightest Gems In Your Life.
Jewels
Jewelry
Moments
And I Myself, In Rome, Heard It Said Openly In The Streets, "if There Is A Hell, Then Rome Is Built On It." Martin Luther, Against The Roman Papacy, An Institution Of The Devil London Is The Epitome Of Our Times, And The Rome Of To-day.
Rome
Devil
London
We Denote This Primary Wisdom As Intuition, Whilst All Later Teachings Are Tuitions.
Teaching
Intuition
Tuition
The Truth, The Hope, Of Any Time Must Be Sought In The Minorities. Michael Angelo Was The Conscience Of Italy. We Grow Free With His Name, And Find It Ornamental Now, But In His Own Day His Friends Were Few.
Names
Minorities
Popularity
Skill To Do Comes Of Doing.
Educational
Self Esteem
Learning
The History Of Reform Is Always Identical; It Is The Comparison Of The Idea With The Fact. Our Modes Of Living Are Not Agreeable To Our Imagination. We Suspect They Are Unworthy. We Arraign Our Daily Employments.
Ideas
Imagination
Employment
There Is Always Room For A Person Of Force And They Make Room For Many.
Strength
Rooms
Force
In Conversation The Game Is, To Say Something New With Old Words. And You Shall Observe A Man Of The People Picking His Way Along, Step By Step, Using Every Time An Old Boulder, Yet Never Setting His Foot On An Old Place.
Time
Men
Feet
A Sleeping Child Gives Me The Impression Of A Traveler In A Very Far Country.
Country
Children
Sleep
How Much Of Human Life Is Lost In Waiting.
Life
Waiting
Losing
Yet Things Are Knowable! They Are Knowable, Because, Being From One, Things Correspond. There Is A Scale: And The Correspondence Of Heaven To Earth, Of Matter To Mind, Of The Part To The Whole, Is Our Guide. As There Is A Science Of Stars, Called Astronomy; And Science Of Quantities, Called Mathematics; A Science Of Qualities, Called Chemistry; So There Is A Science Of Sciences,--i Call It Dialectic,--which Is The Intellect Discriminating The False And The True.
Stars
Knowledge
Heaven
All Great Masters Are Chiefly Distinguished By The Power Of Adding A Second, A Third, And Perhaps A Fourth Step In A Continuous Line. Many A Man Has Taken The First Step. With Every Additional Step You Enhance Immensely The Value Of Your First.
Motivational
Perseverance
Life And Love
The Exceptional Life Depends Not On Working Harder, But On Different, Even Opposite, Actions From Habit And The Crowd.
Opposites
Different
Crowds
It Is Very Hard To Be Simple Enough To Be Good.
Wise
Simple
Simplicity
In The Right Hands, Literature Is Not Resorted To As A Consolation, And By The Broken And Decayed, But As A Decalogue.
Book
Hands
Broken
A Complete Man Should Need No Auxiliaries To His Personal Presence.
Philosophical
Men
Needs
The Soul Raised Over Passion Beholds Identity And Eternal Causation, Perceives The Self-existance Of Truth And Right, And Calms Itself With Knowing That All Things Go Well.
Passion
Self
Knowing
Nothing Is More Disgusting Than The Crowing About Liberty By Slaves, As Most Men Are, And The Flippant Mistaking For Freedom Of Some Paper Preamble Like A Declaration Of Independence, Or The Statute Right To Vote, By Those Who Have Never Dared To Think Or To Act.
Freedom
Men
Thinking
The Basis Of Good Manners Is Self-reliance.
Self
Good Man
Manners
The Poise Of A Plant, The Bended Tree Recovering Itself From The Strong Wind, The Vital Resources Of Every Vegetable And Animal, Are Also Demonstrations Of The Self-sufficing, And Therefore Self-relying Soul. All History From Its Highest To Its Trivial Passages Is The Various Record Of This Power.
Strong
Animal
Self
A Child Reminds Us That Playtime Is An Essential Part Of Our Daily Routine.
Children
Essentials
Routine
The Influence Of Fine Scenery, The Presence Of Mountains, Appeases Our Irritations And Elevates Our Friendships.
Journey
Irritation
Hiking
The Only Right Is What Is After My Constitution; The Only Wrong Is What Is Against It.
Self Reliance
Constitution
Reliance
If A Man Fasten His Attention On A Single Aspect Of Truth And Apply Himself To That Alone For A Long Time, The Truth Becomes Distorted And Not Itself But Falsehood.
Men
Long
Attention
Therefore We Value The Poet. All The Argument And All The Wisdom Is Not In The Encyclopedia, Or The Treatise On Metaphysics, Or The Body Of Divinity, But In The Sonnet Or The Play.
Play
Poetry
Body
He Who Is In Love Is Wise And Is Becoming Wiser, Sees Newly Every Time He Looks At The Object Beloved, Drawing From It With His Eyes And His Mind Those Virtues Which It Possesses.
Love
Wise
Philosophy
Alas For America As I Must So Often Say, The Ungirt, The Diffuse, The Profuse, Procumbent, One Wide Ground Juniper, Out Of Which No Cedar, No Oak Will Rear Up A Mast To The Clouds! It All Runs To Leaves, To Suckers, To Tendrils, To Miscellany. The Air Is Loaded With Poppy, With Imbecility, With Dispersion, & Sloth.
Running
Clouds
Air
The Buddhist, Who Thanks No Man, Who Says "do Not Flatter Your Benefactors," But Who, In His Conviction That Every Good Deed Can By No Possibility Escape Its Reward, Will Not Deceive The Benefactor By Pretending That He Has Done More Than He Should, Is A Transcendentalist.
Karma
Buddhist
Buddhism
To 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.
Attitude
Military
Hero
Fear Is An Instructor Of Great Sagacity, And The Herald Of All Revolutions.
Inspirational
Courage
Fear
We Will Walk On Our Own Feet; We Will Work With Our Own Hands; We Will Speak Our Own Minds... A Nation Of Men Will For The First Time Exist, Because Each Believes Himself Inspired By The Divine Soul Which Also Inspires All Men.
Believe
Men
Hands
It Is The Fine Souls Who Serve Us, And Not What Is Called Fine Society. Fine Society Is Only A Self-protection Against The Vulgarities Of The Street And The Tavern.
Self
Soul
Society
The Writer, Like A Priest, Must Be Exempted From Secular Labor. His Work Needs A Frolic Health; He Must Be At The Top Of His Condition.
Needs
Authorship
Priests
God Will Have Life To Be Real; We Will Be Damned, But It Shall Be Theatrical.
Real
Gods Will
Theatrical
I Quote Another Man's Saying; Unluckily, That Other Withdraws Himself In The Same Way, And Quotes Me.
Men
Way
Another Man
There Is No Calamity That Right Words Will Not Begin To Redress
Redress
Calamity
Right Words
There Is Always A Best Way Of Doing Everything.
Excellence
Way
Best Way
Universally, The Better Gold The Worse Man. The Political Economist Defies Us To Show Any Gold Mine Country That Is Traversed By Good Roads, Or A Shore Where Pearls Are Found On Which Good Schools Are Erected.
Country
School
Men
We Are As Much Informed Of A Writer's Genius By What He Selects As By What He Originates.
Writing
Choices
Genius
Only That Mind Draws Me Which I Cannot Read.
Mind
Draws
The River Knows The Way To The Sea: Without A Pilot It Runs And Falls, Blessing All Lands With Its Charity.
Running
Fall
Blessing
Nature Is No Spendthrift, But Takes The Shortest Way To Her Ends.
Nature
Way
Environment
A Weed Is A Plant We've Found No Use For Yet.
Patience
Weed
Use
The Perception Of The Comic Is A Tie Of Sympathy With Other Men.
Men
Ties
Perception
For It Is Not Metres, But A Metre-making Argument That Makes A Poem, - A Thought So Passionate And Alive That Like The Spirit Of A Plant Or An Animal It Has An Architecture Of Its Own, And Adorns Nature With A New Thing.
Animal
Self Reliance
Passionate
The Counting-room Maxims Liberally Expounded Are Laws Of The Universe. The Merchant's Economy Is A Coarse Symbol Of The Soul's Economy. It Is, To Spend For Power, And Not For Pleasure.
Money
Law
Soul
In The Woods We Return To Reason And Faith.
Nature
Garden
Tree
The World Is His Who Has Money To Go Over It.
Money
World
Over It
Our Best History Is Still Poetry.
History
Best History
Stills
The Bulk Of Mankind Believe In Two Gods. They Are Under One Dominion Here In The House, As Friend And Parent, In Social Circles, In Letters, In Art, In Love, In Religion; But In Mechanics, In Dealing With Steam And Climate, In Trade, In Politics, They Think They Come Under Another.
Art
Believe
Technology
We Are A Puny And Fickle Folk. Avarice, Hesitation, And Following Are Our Diseases.
America
Fickle
Disease
The Way Of Providence Is A Little Rude. The Habit Of Snake And Spider, The Snap Of The Tiger And Other Leapers And Bloody Jumpers, The Crackle Of The Bones Of His Prey In The Coil Of The Anaconda-these Are In The System, And Our Habits Are Like Theirs.
Snakes
Rude
Atheism
Pay No Heed To The Average Photographer's Remarks Upon "flat" And "weak" Negatives. Probably He Is Flat, Weak, Stale, And Unprofitable; Your Negative May Be First-rate, And Probably Is If He Does Not Approve Of It.
Photography
Average
May
Prayer That Craves A Particular Commodity—anything Less Than All Good, Is Vicious. Prayer Is The Contemplation Of The Facts Of Life From The Highest Point Of View. It Is The Soliloquy Of A Beholding And Jubilant Soul. It Is The Spirit Of God Pronouncing His Works Good. But Prayer As A Means To Effect A Private End Is Theft And Meanness. It Supposes Dualism And Not Unity In Nature And Consciousness. As Soon As The Man Is At One With God, He Will Not Beg.
Prayer
Mean
Men
The Poisons Are Our Principal Medicines, Which Kill The Disease And Save The Life.
Life
Medicine
Poison
There Is A Third Silent Party To All Our Bargains. The Nature And Soul Of Things Takes On Itself The Guaranty Of The Fulfillment Of Every Contract, So That Honest Service Cannot Come To Loss. If You Serve An Ungrateful Master, Serve Him The More. Put God In Your Debt. Every Stroke Shall Be Repaid. The Longer The Payment Is Withholden, The Better For You; For Compound Interest On Compound Interest Is The Rate And Usage Of This Exchequer.
Party
Loss
Ungrateful
The Louder He Talked Of His Honor, The Faster We Counted Our Spoons.
Truth
Lying
Character
It Is A Fact Often Observed, That Men Have Written Good Verses Under The Inspiration Of Passion, Who Cannot Write Well Under Other Circumstances.
Inspiration
Passion
Writing
It Was High Counsel That I Once Heard Given To A Young Person, 'always Do What You Are Afraid To Do.'
Inspirational
Positive
Success
Every Wall Is A Door.
Inspirational
Wall
Attitude
My Giant Goes With Me Wherever I Go.
Giants
Truth Gathers Itself Spotless And Unhurt After All Our Surrenders And Concealments And Partisanship; Never Hurt By The Treachery Or Ruin Of Its Best Defenders, Whether Luther, Or William Penn, Or St. Paul.
Hurt
Truth
Ruins
The World Is His Who Can See Through Its Pretension.
World
Deafness
American Scholar
The World Is The Perennial Miracle Which The Soul Worketh.
Miracle
Soul
World
The Progress Of Religion Is Steadily To Its Identity With Morals. Strength Enters Just As Much As The Moral Element Prevails.
Religious
Progress
Identity
We Rail At Trade, But The Historian Of The World Will See That It Was The Principle Of Liberty; That It Settled America, And Destroyed Feudalism, And Made Peace And Keeps Peace; That It Will Abolish Slavery.
Peace
America
Liberty
The Genius Of Reading And Of Gardening Are Antagonistic, Like Resinous And Vitreous Electricity. One Is Concentrative In Sparks And Shocks: The Other Is Diffuse Strength; So That Each Disqualifies Its Workman For The Other's Duties.
Reading
Gardening
Genius
Two Touch The String, The Harp Is Dumb.
Music
Two
Solitude
Every Man Is A Borrower And A Mimic, Life Is Theatrical And Literature A Quotation.
Life
Men
Literature
When We See A Soul Whose Acts Are All Regal, Graceful, And Pleasant As Roses, We Must Thank God That Such Things Can Be And Are.
God
Rose
Soul
Our Faith Comes In Moments; Our Vice Is Habitual.
Faith
Vices
Moments
For Every Minute You Remain Angry, You Give Up Sixty Seconds Of Peace Of Mind.
Inspirational
Success
Forgiveness
I Didn't Find My Friends; The Good Lord Gave Them To Me.
Friendship
Best Friend
Good God
Self-reliance Is Its Aversion. It Loves Not Realities And Creators, But Names And Customs.
Love
Reality
Self
Let It Suffice That In The Light Of These Two Facts, Namely, That The Mind Is One, And That Nature Is Its Correlative, History Isto Be Read And Written.
Light
Two
History
Magic And All That Is Ascribed To It Is A Deep Presentiment Of The Powers Of Science.
Magic
The Reason Why Men Do Not Obey Us, Is Because They See The Mud At The Bottom Of Our Eye.
Leadership
Eye
Men
I Appeal Now To The Convictions Of The Communicants, And Ask Such Persons Whether They Have Not Been Occasionally Conscious Of A Painful Confusion Of Thought Between The Worship Due To God And The Commemoration Due To Christ.
Confusion
Worship
Painful
That For Which Paul Lived And Died So Gloriously; That For Which Jesus Gave Himself To Be Crucified; The End That Animated The Thousand Martyrs And Heroes Who Have Followed His Steps, Was To Redeem Us From A Formal Religion, And Teach Us To Seek Our Well-being In The Formation Of The Soul.
Jesus
Hero
Soul
I Hate To Be Defended In A Newspaper. As Long As All That Is Said Is Said Against Me, I Feel A Certain Assurance Of Success. But As Soon As Honeyed Words Of Praise Are Spoken For Me, I Feel As One That Lies Unprotected Before His Enemies.
Success
Lying
Hate
It Is A Sign Of Our Times, Conspicuous To The Coarsest Observer, That Many Intelligent And Religious Persons Withdraw Themselves From The Common Labors And Competitions Of The Market And The Caucus, And Betake Themselves To A Certain Solitary And Critical Way Of Living, From Which No Solid Fruit Has Yet Appeared To Justify Their Separation.
Religious
Intelligent
Competition
I Would Study, I Would Know, I Would Admire Forever.
Life
Forever
Study
There Is No Beautifier Of Complexion, Or Form, Or Behavior, Like The Wish To Scatter Joy And Not Pain Around Us. 'tis Good To Give A Stranger A Meal, Or A Night's Lodging. 'tis Better To Be Hospitable To His Good Meaning And Thought, And Give Courage To A Companion. We Must Be As Courteous To A Man As We Are To A Picture, Which We Are Willing To Give The Advantage Of A Good Light.
Pain
Attitude
Night
Self Reliance, The Height And Perfection Of Man, Is Reliance On God.
Men
Self
Perfection
Now Every One Must Do After His Kind, Be He Asp Or Angel, And These Must.
Angel
Kind
Individualism
If You Would Lift Me Up, You've Got To Be On Higher Ground.
Higher Ground
Lift Me Up
Lifts
Write It On Your Heart That Every Day 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 Yesterdays.
Writing
Heart
Optimistic
As Gas-light Is Found To Be The Best Nocturnal Police, So The Universe Protects Itself By Pitiless Publicity.
Light
Police
Publicity
The Poet's Habit Of Living Should Be Set On A Key So Low That The Common Influences Should Delight Him.
Keys
Delight
Common
Some Natures Are Too Good To Be Spoiled By Praise.
Praise
Spoiled
I Cannot Remember The Books I've Read Any More Than The Meals I Have Eaten; Even So, They Have Made Me.
Reading
Book
Learning
Man Is The Will, And Woman The Sentiment. In This Ship Of Humanity, Will Is The Rudder, And Sentiment The Sail; When Woman Affects To Steer, The Rudder Is Only A Masked Sail.
Men
Humanity
Ships
The Field Cannot Be Seen From Within The Field.
Fields
Seeing
You Must Pay For Conformity. All Goes Well As Long As You Run With Conformists. But You, Who Are Honest Men In Other Particulars, Know That There Is Alive Somewhere A Man Whose Honesty Reaches To This Point Also, That He Shall Not Kneel To False Gods, And, On The Day When You Meet Him, You Sink Into The Class Of Counterfeits.
Running
Honesty
Men
We Have A Great Deal More Kindness Than Is Ever Spoken.
Forgiveness
Kindness
Deals
All Men Plume Themselves On The Improvement Of Society, And No Man Improves.
Men
Improvement
We Take Care Of Our Health; We Lay Up Money; We Make Our Roof Tight, And Our Clothing Sufficient; But Who Provides Wisely That He Shall Not Be Wanting In The Best Property Of All, -friends?
Friendship
Money
Real
You Shall Not Come Nearer A Man By Getting Into His House.
Friendship
Friends
Men
Give All To Love: Obey Thy Heart; Friends, Kindred, Days, Estate, Good Fame, Plans, Credit, And The Muse,- Nothing Refuse.
Heart
Giving
Credit
Eloquence Shows The Power And Possibility Of Man.
Men
Possibility
Shows
Human Society Is Made Up Of Partialities. Each Citizen Has An Interest And A View Of His Own, Which, If Followed Out To The Extreme, Would Leave No Room For Any Other Citizen.
Views
Society
Citizens
The Customer Is The Immediate Jewel Of Our Souls. Him We Flatter, Him We Feast, Compliment, Vote For, And Will Not Contradict.
Jewels
Soul
United States
In Skating Over Thin Ice Our Safety Is In Our Speed.
Inspirational
Fear
Failure
Language Is A City, To The Building Of Which Every Human Being Brought A Stone; Yet He Is No More To Be Credited With The Grand Result Than The Acaleph Which Adds A Cell To The Coral Reef Which Is The Basis Of The Continent.
Cells
Cities
Add
Nature Is An Endless Combination And Repetition Of A Very Few Laws. She Hums The Old Well-known Air Through Innumerable Variations.
Nature
Science
Law
What New Thoughts Are Suggested By Seeing A Face Of Country Quite Familiar, In The Rapid Movement Of The Rail-road Car!
Country
Car
Movement
A Man In A Cave Or In A Camp, A Nomad, Will Die With No More Estate Than The Wolf Or The Horse Leaves.
Horse
Men
Dying
All Men Are In Some Degree Impressed By The Face Of The World; Some Men Even To Delight. This Love Of Beauty Is Taste. Others Have The Same Love In Such Success That, Not Content With Admiring, They Seek To Embody It In New Forms. The Creation Of Beauty Is Art.
Art
Men
Taste
Ah Fate, Cannot A Man Be Wise Without A Beard? East, West, From Beer To Dan, Say, Was It Never Heard That Wisdom Might In Youth Be Gotten, Or Wit Be Ripe Before 't Was Rotten?
Wise
Fate
Beer
We Are Impressed And Even Daunted By The Immense Universe To Be Explored. "what We Know Is A Point To What We Do Not Know."
Knowledge
Science
Knows
Courage Consists In Equality To The Problem Before Us.
Courage
Equality
Problem
An Answer In Words Is Delusive; It Is Really No Answer To The Questions You Ask.
Answers
Language
Asks
I Find The Englishman To Be Him Of All Men Who Stands Firmest In His Shoes. They Have In Themselves What They Value In Their Horses, Mettle And Bottom.
Horse
Men
Shoes
No Great Man Ever Complains Of Want Of Opportunity.
Inspirational
Motherhood
Opportunity
Truly Speaking, It Is Not Instruction, But Provocation, That I Can Receive From Another Soul. What He Announces, I Must Find True In Me, Or Reject; And On His Word, Or As His Second, Be He Who He May, I Can Accept Nothing.
Soul
May
Accepting
To Have Played And Laughed With Enthusiasm, And Sung With Exultation - This To To Have Succeeded.
Laughter
Laugh Often
Enthusiasm
The Craft With Which The World Is Made Runs Also Into The Mind And Character Of Men. No Man Is Quite Sane; Each Has A Vein Of Folly In His Composition, A Slight Determination Of Blood To The Head, To Make Sure Of Holding Him Hard To Some One Point Which Nature Has Taken To Heart.
Running
Determination
Taken
Every Day Brings A Ship, Every Ship Brings A Word; Well For Those Who Have No Fear, Looking Seaward Well Assured That The Word The Vessel Brings Is The Word They Wish To Hear.
Wish
Ships
No Fear
We Must Not Inquire Too Curiously Into The Absolute Value Of Literature. Enough That It Amuses And Exercises Us. At Least It Leaves Us Where We Were. It Names Things, But Does Not Add Things.
Exercise
Names
Doe
A Mind Might Ponder Its Thought For An Epoch, And Not Gain So Much Self-knowledge As The Passion Of Love Shall Teach In A Day.
Love
Educational
Philosophy
The Mind Is A Finer Body, And Resumes Its Functions Of Feeding, Digesting, Absorbing, Excluding, And Generating, In A New And Ethereal Element. Here, In The Brain, Is All The Process Of Alimentation Repeated, In The Acquiring, Comparing, Digesting, And Assimilating Of Experience. Here Again Is The Mystery Of Generation Repeated.
Brain
Mind
Generations
The Refining Influence Is The Study Of Art, Which Is The Science Of Beauty; And I Find That Every Man Values Every Scrap Of Knowledge In Art, Every Observation Of His Own In It, Every Hint He Has Caught From Another. For The Laws Of Beauty Are The Beauty Of Beauty, And Give The Mind The Same Or A Higher Joy Than The Sight Of It Gives The Senses. The Study Of Art Is Of High Value To The Growth Of The Intellect.
Art
Men
Sight
The Education Of The Will Is The Object Of Our Existence.
Education
School
Existence
I Wiped Away The Weeds And Foam, I Fetched My Sea-borne Treasures Home.
Weed
Home
Sea
The Borrower Runs In His Own Debt.
Running
Debt
Borrowing
No Love Can Be Bound By Oath Or Covenant To Secure It Against A Higher Love.
Love
Covenant
Higher
Perpetual Modernism Is The Measure Of Merit In Every Work Of Art.
Art
Work
Merit
Draw, If Thou Canst, The Mystic Line, Severing Rightly His From Thine, Which Is Human, Which Divine.
Religion
Lines
Divine
Let Us Answer A Book Of Ink With A Book Of Flesh And Blood.
Book
Reading
Blood
Men Cease To Interest Us When We Find Their Limitations
Men
Limits
Interest
O Friend, Never Strike Sail To A Fear!
Fear
Hero
Strikes
A Right Rule For A Club Would Be,-admit No Man Whose Presence Excludes Any One Topic.
Men
Would Be
Clubs
Go Out Of The House To See The Moon, And't Is Mere Tinsel; It Will Not Please As When Its Light Shines Upon Your Necessary Journey.
Moon
Journey
Light
Sculpture And Painting Have The Effect Of Teaching Us Manners And Abolishing Hurry.
Art
Pain
Teaching
But Your Isolation Must Not Be Mechanical, But Spiritual, That Is, Must Be Elevation.
Spiritual
Solitude
Isolation
All Science Is Transcendental Or Else Passes Away.
Passing Away
Transcendental
The Secret Of Success In Society Is A Certain Heartiness And Sympathy.
Secret
Certain
Secret To Success
Meet Your Failure Nobly, And It Will Not Differ From Success.
Success
Failure
A Poet Is No Rattlebrain, Saying What Comes Uppermost, And, Because He Says Every Thing, Saying, At Last, Something Good; But A Heart In Unison With His Time And Country. There Is Nothing Whimsical Or Fantastic In His Production, But Sweet And Sad Earnest, Freighted With The Weightiest Convictions, And Pointed With The Most Determined Aim Which Any Man Or Class Knows Of In His Times.
Country
Sweet
Heart
Don't Set Out To Teach Theism From Your Natural History... You Spoil Both.
Natural
Theism
Science And Religion
Chiefly The Sea-shore Has Been The Point Of Departure To Knowledge, As To Commerce. The Most Advanced Nations Are Always Those Who Navigate The Most.
Sea
Departure
Commerce
The Music That Can Deepest Reach And Cure All Ill Is Cordial Speech.
Music
Speech
Cures
Accept The Place The Divine Providence Has Found For You, The Society Of Your Contemporaries, The Connection Of Events.
Acceptance
Events
Connections
The Prayer Of The Farmer Kneeling In His Field To Weed It, The Prayer Of The Rower Kneeling With The Stroke Of His Oar, Are True Prayers Heard Throughout Nature.
Weed
Nature
Prayer
The Poorest Experience Is Rich Enough For All The Purposes Of Expressing Thought
Purpose
Rich
Enough
Men Over Forty Are No Judges Of A Book Written In A New Spirit.
Book
Men
Judging
Culture Is The Suggestion, From Certain Best Thoughts, That A Man Has A Range Of Affinities Through Which He Can Modulate The Violence Of Any Master-tones That Have A Droning Preponderance In His Scale, And Succor Him Against Himself. Culture Redresses This Imbalance, Puts Him Among Equals And Superiors, Revives The Delicious Sense Of Sympathy, And Warns Him Of The Dangers Of Solitude And Repulsion.
Men
Solitude
Suggestions
A Man In The Wrong May More Easily Be Convinced Than One Half Right.
Men
Half
May
Nor Count Compartments Of The Floors, But Mount To Paradise By The Stairway Of Surprise.
Paradise
Surprise
Stairways
For The World Was Built In Order Around The Atoms March In Tune; Rhyme The Pipe, And Time The Warder, The Sun Obeys Them, And The Moon.
Moon
Order
Tunes
We Expect A Great Man To Be A Good Reader.
Book
Men
Lovers
What Forests Of Laurel We Bring, And The Tears Of Mankind, To Those Who Stood Firm Against The Opinion Of Their Contemporaries!
Tears
Forests
Opinion
The Vocabulary Of An Omniscient Man Would Embrace Words And Images Excluded From Polite Conversation. What Would Be Base, Or Even Obscene, To The Obscene, Becomes Illustrious, Spoken In A New Connexion Of Thought.
Men
Vocabulary
Would Be
Every Revolution Was First A Thought In One Man's Mind; And When The Same Thought Occurs To Another Man, It Is The Key To That Era.
Men
Keys
Justice
Almost Every Man We Meet Requires Some Civility; Requires To Be Humored; - He Has Some Fame, Some Talent, Some Whim Of Religion Or Philanthropy In His Head That Is Not To Be Questioned, And Which Spoils All Conversation With Him. But A Friend Is A Sane Man Who Exercises Not My Ingenuity, But Me.
Friendship
Exercise
Men
What Terrible Questions We Are Learning To Ask! The Former Men Believed In Magic, By Which Temples, Cities, And Men Were Swallowed Up, And All Trace Of Them Gone. We Are Coming On The Secret Of A Magic Which Sweeps Out Of Men's Minds All Vestige Of Theism And Beliefs Which They And Their Fathers Held And Were Framed Upon.
Father
Science
Men
[t]omorrow Is A New Day. You Shall Begin It Well & Serenely, & With Too High A Spirit To Be Cumbered With Your Old Nonsense. This Day ... Is Too Dear With Its Hopes & Invitations To Waste A Moment On The Rotten Yesterdays.
Inspiring
Yesterday
New Day
The Aristocrat Is The Democrat Ripe, And Gone To Seed.
Aristocracy
Gone
Democrat
Fashion Understands Itself; Good-breeding And Personal Superiority Of Whatever Country Readily Fraternize With Those Of Every Other. The Chiefs Of Savage Tribes Have Distinguished Themselves In London And Paris, By The Purity Of Their Tournure.
Leadership
Country
Fashion
A Beautiful Person Among The Greeks, Was Thought To Betray By This Sign Some Secret Favor Of The Immortal Gods; And We Can Pardonpride, When A Woman Possesses Such A Figure That Wherever She Stands, Or Moves, Or Leaves A Shadow On The Wall, Or Sits For A Portrait To The Artist, She Confers A Favor On The World.
Beauty
Beautiful
Wall
Do What We Can, Summer Will Have Its Flies.
Summer
Garden
Insects
Nobody Is Glad In The Gladness Of Another, And Our System Is One Of War, Of An Injurious Superiority. Every Child Of The Saxon Race Is Educated To Wish To Be First. It Is Our System; And A Man Comes To Measure His Greatness By The Regrets, Envies, And Hatreds Of His Competitors.
Children
Regret
War
For What Are They All In Their High Conceit, When Man In The Bush With God May Meet?
Men
Conceited
May
The Last Change In Our Point Of View Gives The Whole World A Pictorial Air.
Air
Views
Giving
Beauty Brings Its Own Fancy Price, For All That A Man Hath Will He Give For His Love.
Beauty
Love Is
Men
Children And Savages Use Only Nouns Or Names Of Things, Which They Convert Into Verbs, And Apply To Analogous Mental Acts.
Children
Names
Savages
The Highest Beauty Should Be Plain Set.
Beauty
Should
Highest
Worst, When This Sensualism Intrudes Into The Education Of Young Women, And Withers The Hope And Affection Of Human Nature, By Teaching That Marriage Signifies Nothing But A Housewife's Thrift, And That Woman's Life Has No Other Aim.
Marriage
Education
Women
Yet A Man May Love A Paradox, Without Losing Either His Wit Or His Honesty.
Honesty
Men
May
The Hues Of The Opal, The Light Of The Diamond, Are Not To Be Seen If The Eye Is Too Near.
Wise
Wisdom
Clever
In This Distribution Of Functions, The Scholar Is The Delegated Intellect. In The Right State, He Is, Man Thinking. In The Degenerate State, When The Victim Of Society, He Tends To Become A Mere Thinker, Or, Still Worse, The Parrot Of Other Men's Thinking.
Thinking
Men
Degenerates
The Person Who Screams, Or Uses The Superlative Degree, Or Converses With Heat Puts Whole Drawing-rooms To Flight. If You Wish To Be Loved, Love Measure.
Drawing
Wish
Degrees
Personal Rights, Universally The Same, Demand A Government Framed On The Ratio Of The Census: Property Demands A Government Framedon The Ratio Of Owners And Of Owning.
Rights
Government
Demand
Philosophically Considered, The Universe Is Composed Of Nature And The Soul.
Soul
Universe
Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.


2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.


2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.


2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.


3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.


3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.


3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.



4. Proper Usage of Quotes


4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.


4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.


4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).


5. Common Mistakes to Avoid


5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.


5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.


5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.



6. Quotes in Different Contexts


6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.


6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.


6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.



7. Punctuation and Formatting


Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:


Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.


Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.


Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.



8. Ethical Considerations


Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes


Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.



Conclusion


Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.


Trending Author
Jerome Corsi
William H. Macy
Norman Mailer
Neil Patrick Harris
Ana Castillo
Bobby Bowden
Category
Information