Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.
The sentence comes soon after Emerson’s argument that imitation is suicide and that a person who tries to be somebody else finds that “his genius deserts him”. It is often paraphrased as “trust yourself”.
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;