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The thing done avails, and not what is said about it. An original sentence, a step forward, is worth more than all the censures.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson English Traits (1856)

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Progress

More quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson

I wish to write such rhymes as shall not suggest a restraint, but contrariwise the wildest freedom.

Journals (1822)

The real and lasting victories are those of peace, and not of war.

The man who renounces himself, comes to himself.

Divinity College Address (1838)

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

Poems (1847)

He who is in love is wise and is becoming wiser, sees newly every time he looks at the object beloved, drawing from it with his eyes and his mind those virtues which it possesses.

The Method of Nature (1841)

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Change based on principle is progress. Constant change without principle becomes chaos.

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The History of Electricity is a field full of pleasing objects, according to all the genuine and universal principles of taste, deduced from a knowledge of human nature.

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Just remember, you can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes action, perseverance, and facing your fears.

Gillian Anderson

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Ralph Waldo Emerson (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.