To be great is to be misunderstood.
Emerson asks whether it is so bad to be misunderstood and lists Pythagoras, Socrates, Jesus, Luther, Copernicus, Galileo and Newton as examples. The sentence comes straight after that list.
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one.
A house divided against itself cannot stand.
The rank is but the guinea’s stamp, / The Man’s the gowd for a’ that.
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: / Its loveliness increases; it will never / Pass into nothingness;