Emerson was noted as being a very abstract and difficult writer who nevertheless drew large crowds for his speeches. The heart of Emerson's writing was his direct observations in his journals, which he started keeping as a teenager at Harvard.
An extract from his piece, "The Over Soul":
“We live in succession, in division, in parts, in particles. Meantime within man is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related, the eternal ONE. And this deep power in which we exist and whose beatitude is all accessible to us, is not only self-sufficing and perfect in every hour, but the act of seeing and the thing seen, the seer and the spectacle, the subject and the object, are one. We see the world piece by piece, as the sun, the moon, the animal, the tree; but the whole, of which these are shining parts, is the soul.”
I have put together a few of his quotations, even though he once stated “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.”
I, however, love quotations, because they express some of the thoughts, opinions and feelings that I harbour, but have just not been able to set free literally and/or verbally. Although there are only a handful that I can remember word for word. I don’t think quotations are there to be memorized and used in repetition. Instead I like to read them, think about them and finally absorb them into my conscious and subconscious so that it may pick out their kindred energy and become a part of my being.
So this is what Ralph had to say…
- The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him.
- A chief event of life is the day in which we have encountered a mind that startled us.
- A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.
- Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
- Beauty is an outward gift, which is seldom despised, except by those to whom it has been refused.
- Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes.
- Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
- Judge of your natural character by what you do in your dreams.
- Let us be silent, that we may hear the whispers of the gods.
- Nobody can bring you peace but yourself.
- Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.
- People only see what they are prepared to see.
- People that seem so glorious are all show; underneath they are like everyone else.
- The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.
- Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.
- To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
- We find delight in the beauty and happiness of children that makes the heart too big for the body.
- What you do speak so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.
- When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.
Love and Light, Orangeblossom xxxx
