Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

There's a difference between solitude and loneliness. I can understand the concept of being a monk for a while.

I think I'm a spiritual person. I don't really go to church often when services are on, but I like going in when they are empty and quiet, and just sitting there and thinking for a little while.

Alone let him constantly meditate in solitude on that which is salutary for his soul, for he who meditates in solitude attains supreme bliss.

When you walk 10 hours, 11 hours a day by yourself, you are doing a walking meditation.

Contemplation seems to be about the only luxury that costs nothing.

I definitely have to pray and spend a lot of time by myself when I can.

I would say to today's young minister, 'Be not afraid to give much time to solitary walks and meditation'.

One must learn an inner solitude, where or with whomsoever he may be. He must learn to penetrate things and find God there, to get a strong impression of God firmly fixed on his mind.

Cultivating quietness is a missing discipline today...the quietness needed to nurture an inner life hid in Christ.

A primary goal of the spiritual life is to learn to quiet the mind through prayer and meditation, through spiritual practice, so that we can hear what in both Judaism and Christianity, is called the small, still voice within.

No writing on the solitary, meditative dimensions of life can say anything that has not already been said better by the wind in the pine trees.

Read a little. Meditate more. Think of God all the time.

It is important from time to time to slow down, to go away by yourself, and simply be.

Solitude is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it.

I meditate on God's life and I read the scriptures. I read something about Him, go through it and spend a lot of time by myself.

I aspire only to silence.

I'd like to learn to meditate with more enthusiasm. I can sit down and get quiet for 20 minutes, but it just has not been a part of my Christianity at all.

Prayer gives a man the opportunity of getting to know a gentleman he hardly ever meets. I do not mean his maker, but himself.

I believe that having a spiritual life is so important in everybody's life.

I'm very introspective, and I mostly don't talk to people. I get into a real quiet, meditative place.

We don't think about pilgrimage in this country. We don't think about meditation. The idea of taking a six-week walk is totally foreign to most Americans. But it's probably exactly what we need.

New Year's Eve is not about having a big party for me. It's a time of reflection, and I often go on spiritual retreats.

An unschooled man who knows how to meditate upon the Lord has learned far more than the man with the highest education who does not know how to meditate.

Every one should find some suitable time, day or night, to sink into his depths, each according to his own fashion. Not every one is able to engage in contemplative prayer.