Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

Disappointment is a sticky one, because no one can steal contentment, joy, gratitude, or peace - we have to give it away.

Most of life is sad.

I got into Cambridge and it all went downhill.

One of the key emotions a lot of people seem to be feeling is disillusionment, and what I try to do as a lyricist is touch on these emotions.

Students, in particular, now find themselves in a world in which heightened expectations have been replaced by dashed hopes.

What is much harder to handle is the sense that you have to live up to the mark someone else has set for you. The grades become too important, the competition too frantic, the fear of disappointing those who believe in you turns into an overwhelming nightmare.

We will cease to be angry once we cease to be so hopeful.

I may have made a straight A in physics, but I was panic-struck. Physics made me sick the whole time I learned it.

Despair itself if it goes on long enough, can become a kind of sanctuary in which one settles down and feels at ease.

Modern education too often covers the fingers with rings, and at the same time cuts the sinews at the wrist.

Please don't disillusion me. I haven't had breakfast yet.

Senior year is supposed to be a blast-easy and fun. So far it's been anything but.

I can forgive you for leaving, but not for coming back.

I once asked a young dissertation writer whether her suddenly grayed hair was due to ill health or personal tragedy; she answered: “It was the footnotes”.

As we have said, robust souls are sometimes almost, but not entirely, overthrown by strokes of misfortune....Despair has steps leading upward. From total depression we rise to despondency, from despondency to affliction, from affliction to melancholy. Melancholy is a twilight state in which suffering transmutes into a somber joy....Melancholy is the enjoyment of being sad.

You can't eat straight A's.

I thought I'd finally get to relax with Dimitri.

Learned researches lead to headaches, constipation, and befuddled quarreling.

Competition in academia is so vicious because the stakes are so small.

There were times in school when a person had to do things fast, cheap, and without character.

I think regular school is harder than my job. You have to deal with kids picking on you, and you wanting to look good and all this stuff. It was way too much pressure.

Do not lie to the Scholar.

Forgive me if I stare, I knew you were young, but even then I was expecting someone a little more, well, more.

The aftermath of joy is not usually more joy.

Senior year is supposed to be about being mentally done.