Our faith comes in moments . . . yet there is a depth in those brief moments which constrains us to ascribe more reality to them than to all other experiences. Ralph Waldo Emerson More Quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson More Quotes From Ralph Waldo Emerson Wherever snow falls, or water flows, or birds fly, wherever day and night meet in twilight, wherever the blue heaven is hung by clouds, or sown with stars, wherever are forms with transparent boundaries, wherever are outlets into celestial space, wherever is danger, and awe, and love, there is Beauty, plenteous as rain, shed for thee, and though thou shouldest walk the world over, thou shalt not be able to find a condition inopportune or ignoble. Ralph Waldo Emerson starsrainbeauty A man is known by the books he reads, by the company he keeps, by the praise he gives, by his dress, by his tastes, by his distastes, by the stories he tells, by his gait, by the notion of his eye, by the look of his house, of his chamber; for nothing on earth is solitary but every thing hath affinities infinite. Ralph Waldo Emerson eyemenbook The true test of civilization is not the census, nor the size of cities, nor the crops - no, but the kind of man the country turns out. Ralph Waldo Emerson charactermencountry God enters by a private door into every individual. Ralph Waldo Emerson religiousfaithgod And yet--it is not beauty that inspires the deepest passion. Beauty without grace is the hook without the bait. Beauty, without expression, tires. Ralph Waldo Emerson passionexpressionbeauty Our fear of death is like our fear that summer will be short, but when we have had our swing of pleasure, our fill of fruit, and our swelter of heat, we say we have had our day. Ralph Waldo Emerson julysummerdeath Some of your griefs you have cured, And the sharpest you still have survived, But what torments of grief you've endured From evils that never arrived. Ralph Waldo Emerson tormentgriefevil He is great who is what he is from nature, and who never reminds us of others. Ralph Waldo Emerson greatnessnature The mass of men worry themselves into nameless graves while here and there a great unselfish soul forgets himself into immortality. Ralph Waldo Emerson soulworrymen Sleep lingers all our lifetime about our eyes, as night hovers all day in the boughs of the fir-tree. Ralph Waldo Emerson eyesleepnight You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity. Ralph Waldo Emerson ethicsdistancevegetarianism If a man will kick a fact out of the window, when he comes back he finds it again in the chimney corner. Ralph Waldo Emerson menfactswindow There are men too superior to be seen except by a few, as there are notes too high for the scale of most ears. Ralph Waldo Emerson catchyearsmen Wherever a man commits a crime, God finds a witness. Every secret crime has its reporter. Ralph Waldo Emerson crimesecretmen Wisdom is like electricity. There is no permanently wise man, but men capable of wisdom, who, being put into certain company, or other favorable conditions, become wise for a short time, as glasses rubbed acquire electric power for a while. Ralph Waldo Emerson wisdomwisemen Eyes...They speak all languages. Ralph Waldo Emerson languageeyespeak My life is not an apology, but a life. Ralph Waldo Emerson apologylife-is The age of a woman doesn't mean a thing. The best tunes are played on the oldest fiddles. Ralph Waldo Emerson mean-girlswomenage A sect or party is an elegant incognito devised to save a man from the vexation of thinking. Ralph Waldo Emerson partymenthinking I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new. Ralph Waldo Emerson good-morningthank-youfriendship