Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

Good actions ennoble us, and we are the sons of our deeds.

It is not enough merely possess virtue, as if it were an art; it should be practiced.

Honour is purchased by the deeds we do.

Every man takes care that his neighbor shall not cheat him. But a day comes when he begins to care that he does not cheat his neighbor. Then all goes well. He has changed his market cart into a chariot of the sun.

An educated person must learn to act justly, beginning, first of all, with his thoughts, then later in his deeds. That is what it means to be educated.

To know what virtue is is not enough; we must endeavor to possess and to practice it, or in some other manner actually ourselves to become good.

The shortest and surest way to live with honor in the world, is to be in reality what we would appear to be, all human virtues increase and strengthen themselves by the practice and experience of them.

Respect for self is the beginning of cultivating virtue in men and women.

No matter how full a reservoir of maxims one may possess, and no matter how good one's sentiments may be, if one has not taken advantage of every concrete opportunity to act, one's character may remain entirely unaffected for the better.

What, pray, does it profit a man to teach others, and to be prating always about virtue, in high-sounding words, if he fails to give heed to his own instructions?

Character must be kept bright as well as clean.

We must progress to the stage of doing all the right things for all the right reasons instead of doing all the right things for all the wrong reasons.

If one acts rightly and honestly, it is difficult to decide whether it is the effect of integrity or skill.

Men become old, but they never become good.

To leave this world a better person, and for me to not be the only one who knows it.

Integrity means having the courage to do what is right, and what is aligned with your values, no matter the situation.

So many people say, "I'm a good person!" Like, why are you a good person? To be a good person you have to actively be good.

A good character when established should not be rested in as an end, but only employed as a means of doing still further good.

Heroism is a matter of integrity--beco ming more and more at each step ourselves.

He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it the second time.

We are defined by our dignity to rise above debasement. We are certainly better people for doing so.

It still remains true that no justification of virtue will enable a man to be virtuous.

The superior man honors his virtuous nature, and maintains constant inquiry and study, seeking to carry it out to its breadth and greatness, so as to omit none of the more exquisite and minute points which it embraces, and to raise it to its greatest height and brilliancy.

To be great in our times too often means to have great prosperity and no moral magnanimity at all.

Demand not that I am the equal of the greatest, only that I am better than the wicked.