Self-Reliance and Other Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson

The other night I cuddled up with a little light reading.

Self-Reliance and Other Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson

I only made it through a few of the essays, but I found a few snippets of inspiration.

A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the luster of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his.

 

In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty.

 

We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents. It may be safely trusted as proportionate and of good issues, so it be faithfully imparted, but God will not have his work made manifest by cowards.

 

Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events.

 

I must be myself. I cannot break myself any longer for you, or you. If you can love me for what I am, we shall be the happier. If you cannot, I will still seek to deserve that you should. I must be myself.