To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. —Ralph Waldo Emerson

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To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Philosopher, Poet, Author, Essayist

COMMENTS

Dale J from Va JUNE 30, 2018
Words to live by!
Lulu Astler JANUARY 16, 2018
if ever there was one thing that people could agree on it would be that this Emerson quote comes to closest to summing up who and what he was ...it brings a tear to my eye, is one of the greatest things I've ever read and to have known someone that had lived that is even more wonderful
Vicki from Texas, USA AUGUST 17, 2017
This is what all people should strive to do. Our world would be a better place for all.
Isaac from Tennessee JULY 28, 2017
My favorite quote of all time- I try to live by it and pass it on to my friends, family, and one day I'll hopefully instill this into my future students :)
Ray from New Zealand JUNE 13, 2017
Beautiful, and so true.

If you wait until you can do everything for everybody, instead of something for somebody, you'll end up not doing anything for anybody. —Malcom Bane
We can learn to see each other and see ourselves in each other and recognize that human beings are more alike than we are unalike. —Maya Angelou
All things are bound together. All things connect. Whatever happens to the Earth happens to the children of the Earth. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. —Chief Seattle
A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions. —Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
There’s always going to be bad stuff out there. But here’s the amazing thing - light trumps darkness every time. You stick a candle into the dark, but you can’t stick the dark into the light. —Jodi Picoult
The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are. —Joseph Campbell
When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world. —John Muir
No act of kindness is too small. The gift of kindness may start as a small ripple that over time can turn into a tidal wave affecting the lives of many. —Kevin Heath
For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it. For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it. For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it. —Ivan Panin
When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace. —Jimi Hendrix
You have a chance every single morning to make that change and be the person you want to be. You just have to decide to do it. —Brendon Burchard
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. —Mark Twain
I've always found that anything worth achieving will always have obstacles in the way and you've got to have that drive and determination to overcome those obstacles on route to whatever it is that you want to accomplish. —Chuck Norris
Those who are lifting the world upward and onward are those who encourage more than criticize. —Elizabeth Harrison
In the time we have it is surely our duty to do all the good we can to all the people we can in all the ways we can. —William Barclay
Do not count the days; make the days count. —Muhammad Ali

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