Ralph Waldo Emerson Success Quotations

The greater speed and success that distinguish the planting of the human race in this country, over all other plantations in history, owe themselves mainly to the new subdivisions of the State into small corporations of land and power.

The secret of success lies never in the amount of money, but in the relation of income to outgo.

Men of extraordinary success, in their honest moments, have always sung, "Not unto us, not unto us." According to the faith of their times, they have built altars to Fortune, or to Destiny, or to St. Julian. Their success lay in their parallelism to the course of thought, which found in them an unobstructed channel; and the wonders of which they were the visible conductors seemed to their eye their deed.

Every true man is a cause, a country, and an age; requires infinite spaces and numbers and time fully to accomplish his design;--and posterity seem to follow his steps as a train of clients.

Success goes thus invariably with a certain plus or positive power: an ounce of power must balance an ounce of weight.

Whilst all the world is in pursuit of power, culture corrects the theory of success.

Sanity consists in not being subdued by your means. Fancy prices are paid for position, and for the culture of talent, but to thegrand interests, superficial success is of no account.

Self-trust is the first secret of success, the belief that if you are here the authorities of the universe put you here, and for cause, or with some task strictly appointed you in your constitution, and so long as you work at that you are well and successful

All successful men have agreed in one thing -- they were causationists. They believed that things went not by luck, but by law; that there was not a weak or a cracked link in the chain that joins the first and last of things.

Successful people live well, laugh often, and love much. They've filled a niche and accomplished tasks so as to leave the world better than they found it, while looking for the best in others, and giving the best they have.

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch...

No power of genius has ever yet had the smallest success in explaining existence. The perfect enigma remains.

A man is like a bit of Labrador spar, which has no lustre as you turn it in your hand until you come to a particular angle; then it shows deep and beautiful colors. There is no adaptation or universal applicability in men, but each has his special Talent, and the mastery of Successful men consists in adroitly keeping themselves where and when that turn shall be oftenest to be practiced.

Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.

A strenuous soul hates cheap success.

Success in your work, the finding a better method, the better understanding that insures the better performing is hat and coat, is food and wine, is fire and horse and health and holiday. At least, I find that any success in my work has the effect on my spirits of all these.

Meet your failure nobly, and it will not differ from success.

No one can cheat you out of ultimate success but yourself.

The good news is that the moment you decide that what you know is more important than what you have been taught to believe, you will have shifted gears in your quest for abundance. Success comes from within, not from without.

Without a rich heart, wealth is an ugly beggar.

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mousetrap than his neighbor, though he build his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door.

The secret of success in society is a certain heartiness and sympathy. A man who is not happy in company, cannot find any word in his memory that will fit the occasion; all his information is a little impertinent. A man who is happy there, finds in every turn of the conversation occasions for the introduction of what he has to say. The favorites of society are able men, and of more spirit than wit, who have no uncomfortable egotism, but who exactly fill the hour and the company, contended and contenting.

I hate to be defended in a newspaper. As long as all that is said is said against me, I feel a certain assurance of success. But as soon as honeyed words of praise are spoken for me, I feel as one that lies unprotected before his enemies.

In the first place, all books that get fairly into the vital air of the world were written by the successful class, by the affirming and advancing class, who utter what tens of thousands feel though they cannot say.

A cheerful intelligent face is the end of culture, and success enough. For it indicates the purpose of Nature and wisdom attained.

That you are fair or wise is vain, Or strong, or rich, or generous; You must have also the untaught strain That sheds beauty on the rose.

The delicate muses lose their head if their attention is once diverted. Perhaps if you were successful abroad in talking and dealing with men, you would not come back to your bookshelf and your task. When the spirit chooses you for its scribe to publish some commandment, it makes you odious to men and men odious to you, and you shall accept that loathsomeness with joy. The moth must fly to the lamp, and you must solve those questions though you die.

One thing is forever good; That one thing is Success.

Continual failure is a road to success - if you have the strength to go on.

The measure of a master is his success in bringing all men around to his opinion twenty years later.

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to leave the world a better place, to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded.

When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers.

Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little coarse and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice? Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble.

Children are all foreigners.

It was high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, 'always do what you are afraid to do.'

All great successes are the triumph of persistence.

I fear the popular notion of success stands in direct opposition in all points to the real and wholesome success. One adores public opinion, the other, private opinion; one, fame, the other, desert; one, feats, the other, humility; one, lucre, the other, love; one, monopoly, and the other, hospitality of mind.

Life is not measured by its length, but by its depth.

The secret of success in society is a certain heartiness and sympathy.

Begin and proceed on a settled conviction that but little is permitted to any man to do or to know, and if he complies with the first grand laws, he shall do well.

I look on that man as happy, who, when there is question of success, looks into his work for a reply.

The never-ending task of self improvement.

Character is that which can do without success.

The reason why the world lacks unity, and lies broken and in heaps, is, because man is disunited with himself.

To be great is to be misunderstood.

Self-trust is the first secret of success.

Patience and fortitude conquer all things.

An orator or author is never successful till he has learned to make his words smaller than his ideas.

The man of genius inspires us with a boundless confidence in our own powers.

Successful is the person who has lived well, laughed often and loved much, who has gained the respect of children, who leaves the world better than they found it, who has never lacked appreciation for the earth's beauty, who never fails to look for the best in others or give the best of themselves.

The secret of success in education is respecting the students.

Death comes to all, but great achievements build a monument which shall endure until the sun grows cold.

Men are what their mothers made them.

For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind.

Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think.

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.

We live in a system of approximations. Every end is prospective of some other end, which is also temporary; a round and final success nowhere. We are encamped in nature, not domesticated.

Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood. All is riddle, and the key to a riddle is another riddle.

If you want to be great and successful, choose people who are great and successful and walk side by side with them.

Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.