Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

Do what thy manhood bids thee do, from none but self expect applause. He noblest lives and noblest dies who makes and keeps his self-made laws.

Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world.

When I write, I don't allow the fear of consequences to interfere with the writing process. I have in the past paid for my commitment to the truth and the way I live my life. I am prepared to pay more if I have to.

I live my life and play my music, and I don't really seek out other people's approval or accolades or things like that. I try to do what's true to me, and how it all comes out is fine.

I don't subscribe to anything. I sit there and I try to think about what seems honest to me.

Independence .... is loyalty to one's best self and principles, and this is often disloyalty to the general idols and fetishes.

I don't particularly care what people think of me as long as I know what I'm doing is right.

I have my life. I have my values. And compared with much of society, especially football, that is radical.

Self-respect cannot be hunted. It cannot be purchased. It is never for sale. It cannot be fabricated out of public relations. It comes to us when we are alone, in quiet moments, in quiet places, when we suddenly realize that, knowing the good, we have done it; knowing the beautiful, we have served it; knowing the truth we have spoken it

Whatever your secret, live your own truth; life is too short.

A meaningful life is not a popularity contest. Do what in your heart you believe to be the right thing, and you may or may not get immediate approval from the world. Do it anyway.

I'd say that individuals are respected who stick to their convictions instead of doing whatever happens to be in fashion.

Forget conventionalisms; forget what the world thinks of you stepping out of your place; think your best thoughts, speak your best words, work your best works, looking to your own conscience for approval.

Be neither saint nor sophist-led, but be a man.

Humanity is less, far less than the individual, because the individual may sometimes be capable of truth, and humanity is a tree of lies.

We're at a time now where there's a lot more "I'll do whatever it takes" attitude. I'm not going to say or do what you want me to say or do just because it might help me or be the politically correct thing to do to help my career. And that may have hurt me sometimes. I think about different collaborations that have been brought my way - it might have meant I'd get to be on TV to do certain things, but I've said, "No. It doesn't make sense. I'm not doing it." And other people might jump at the opportunity.

The hallmark of courage in our age of conformity is the capacity to stand on one's own convictions - not obstinately or defiantly

You know, what if everybody's wrong in life? And so you have to live your life yourself.

It does not matter that only a few in each generation will grasp and achieve the full reality of man's proper stature-and the rest will betray it. It is those few that move the world and give life its meaning-and it is those few that I have always sought to address. The rest are no concern of mine; it is not me or "The Fountainhead" that they will betray: it is their own souls.

It is better to be disliked for being who you are than to be loved for who you are not.

Courage doesn't always involve physical heroism in the face of death. It doesn't always require giant leaps worthy of celebration. Sometimes, courage is the willingness to speak the truth about what you see and to own what you say.

I will not hide my tastes or aversions. If you are true, but not in the same truth with me, cleave to your companions; I will seek my own.

He who is and remains true to himself and to others has the most attractive quality of the greatest talent.

Be strong. Don't be a follower. Always do the right thing.

Amid a world of noisy, shallow actors it is noble to stand aside and say, 'I will simply be.