Ralph Waldo Emerson geboren in Boston op 25 mei 1803 en gestorven in Condord, 27 april 1882. Was een dichter, filosoof en een van de meest invloedrijke denkers van de Verenigde staten. Tevens was hij een essayist, een schrijver die over wetenschappelijke, filosofische of culturele dingen schrijft als onderwerp. Waarbij hij zijn persoonlijke visie geeft op hedendaagse problemen of ontwikkelen. 

Hij was ook een transcendentalist, waarbij het geloof in de goedheid van mens en de natuur centraal staat. Hij geloofde dat de mens op zijn best was wanneer hij zelfstandig en zelfvoorzienend leefde.

Voor mij was hij een vrije denker, die zijn eigen unieke opvattingen had over het leven. In veel citaten geeft hij aan een liefhebber te zijn van mensen die niet meeliepen met de massa maar een eigen persoonlijkheid hadden.
Hij had een mooie visie omtrent de toekomst, de rechten van vrouwen, slavernij etc. hij bleef zijn mening uiten zelfs wanneer hij het publiek tegen zich kreeg.
Ralph zag i.p.v. competitie, kameraadschap, niet afbreken maar opbouwen.
Tevens is hij een teken van hoop. Hij verloor 2 zusjes en 1 broertje op jonge leeftijd, maar ook zijn vader. Zijn vrouw stierf 2 jaar nadat ze waren getrouwd en zijn zoon wat later in zijn leven. Toch gaf hij het leven nooit op en bleef hij hoop houden in de toekomst.

De 30 mooiste citaten van Ralph Waldo Emerson:

1) “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

2) “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

3) “What lies behind us and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

4) “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

5) “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well”. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

6) “If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

7) “Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

8) “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

9) “Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience that will explain and overlook the old.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

10) “Finish each 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. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

11) “Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

12) “Every man i meet is my superior in some way, and in that i learn from him” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

13) “The only way to have a friend is to be one” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

14) “Shallow men believe in luck or in circumstance. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

15) “Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

16) “The glory of friendship is not in the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is in the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson

17) “The characteristic of genuine heroism is its persistency. All men have wandering impulses, fits and starts of generosity. But when you have resolved to be great, abide by yourself, and do not weakly try to reconcile yourself with the world. The heroic cannot be the common, nor the common the heroic.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson

18) “Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

19) “For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

20) “Trust men and they will be true to you treat them greatly and they will show themselves great” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

21) “It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinions; it is easy in solitude to live after your own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

22) “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 had taken the first step. With every additional step you enhance immensely the value of your first.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

23) “Our strength grows out of our weakness.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

24) “You cannot do a kidness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

25) “An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

26) “He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

27) “Every artist was first an Amateur” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

28) “Life is a succession of lessons, which must be lived to understand” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

29) “All life is an expirement. The more experiments you make the better.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

30) “Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson