Tag Archives: Ralph Waldo Emerson

FIVE WISE LINES [October 2025]

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Gwalior Fort on Gopachal Hill in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India

I had better never see a book
than to be warped by its attraction clean out of my own orbit,
and made a satellite instead of a system.

ralph waldo emerson; The american scholar

Free should the scholar be, — free and brave.

Ralph waldo emerson; The American Scholar

If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine, it is lethal.

Paulo coelho

What you’re supposed to do when you
don’t like a thing is change it.
If you can’t change it,
change the way you think about it.
Don’t complain.

Maya angelou

No man ever steps in the same river twice,
for it’s not the same river
and he’s not the same man.

Heraclitus

“Fable” by Ralph Waldo Emerson [w/ Audio]

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The mountain and the squirrel  
  Had a quarrel;  
 And the former called the latter ‘Little Prig.’
 Bun replied,  
 ‘You are doubtless very big;         
  But all sorts of things and weather  
  Must be taken in together,  
  To make up a year  
  And a sphere.  
 And I think it no disgrace  
  To occupy my place.  
 If I'm not so large as you,  
  You are not so small as I,  
  And not half so spry.  
 I'll not deny you make  
  A very pretty squirrel track;  
  Talents differ; all is well and wisely put;  
 If I cannot carry forests on my back,  
  Neither can you crack a nut.’

“Limits” by Ralph Waldo Emerson [w/ Audio]

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Who knows this or that?
 Hark in the wall to the rat:
 Since the world was, he has gnawed;
 Of his wisdom, of his fraud
 What dost thou know?
 In the wretched little beast
 Is life and heart,
 Child and parent,
 Not without relation
 To fruitful field and sun and moon.
 What art thou? His wicked eye
 Is cruel to thy cruelty.

PROMPT: Three Books

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List three books that have had an impact on you. Why?

Steven Kotler’s The Rise of Superman changed the way I looked at mind-body development.

Water Margin [a.k.a. Outlaws of the Marsh] convinced me a sprawling epic could be worth reading if it was done well, it kicked my love of Chinese Literature into high gear, and it started me on the path of learning Chinese.

Self-Reliance and Other Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson had a major influence on my early philosophical development — especially the titular essay.

Now, I’m thinking I should’ve pushed one of these out for Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, but perhaps another time.

“The Bell” by Ralph Waldo Emerson [w/ Audio]

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I love thy music, mellow bell,
 I love thine iron chime,
 To life or death, to heaven or hell,
 Which calls the sons of Time.

Thy voice upon the deep
 The home-bound sea-boy hails,
 It charms his cares to sleep,
 It cheers him as he sails.

To house of God and heavenly joys
 Thy summons called our sires,
 And good men thought thy sacred voice
 Disarmed the thunder's fires.

And soon thy music, sad death-bell,
 Shall lift its notes once more,
 And mix my requiem with the wind
 That sweeps my native shore.

FIVE WISE LINES [May 2025]

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It is a happy talent to know how to play.

Ralph waldo emerson

Just living is not enough… one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.

Hans christian andersen

Don’t abandon kindness, mercy, and sympathy in an emergency.

Qiānzì wén [千字文], Ch. 3

Logic will take you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.

albert Einstein

You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.

Henry david thoreau

“Concord Hymn” by Ralph Waldo Emerson [w/ Audio]

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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.
 
The foe long since in silence slept;
   Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
 And Time the ruined bridge has swept
   Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
   We set today a votive stone;
 That memory may their deed redeem,
   When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
 
Spirit, that made those heroes dare
   To die, and leave their children free,
 Bid Time and Nature gently spare
   The shaft we raise to them and thee.

Sung at the Completion of the Battle Monument, July 4, 1837

“Water” by Ralph Waldo Emerson [w/ Audio]

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The water understands
 Civilization well;
 It wets my foot, but prettily,
 It chills my life, but wittily,
 It is not disconcerted,
 It is not broken-hearted:
 Well used, it decketh joy,
 Adorneth, doubleth joy:
 Ill used, it will destroy,
 In perfect time and measure
 With a face of golden pleasure
 Elegantly destroy.

“The Past” by Ralph Waldo Emerson [w/ Audio]

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The debt is paid,
 The verdict said,
 The Furies laid,
 The plague is stayed,
 All fortunes made;
 Turn the key and bolt the door,
 Sweet is death forevermore.
 Nor haughty hope, nor swart chagrin,
 Nor murdering hate, can enter in.
 All is now secure and fast;
 Not the gods can shake the Past;
 Flies-to the adamantine door
 Bolted down forevermore.
 None can re-enter there, --
 No thief so politic,
 No Satan with a royal trick
 Steal in by window, chink, or hole,
 To bind or unbind, add what lacked,
 Insert a leaf, or forge a name,
 New-face or finish what is packed,
 Alter or mend eternal Fact.

“Days” by Ralph Waldo Emerson [w/ Audio]

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Daughters of Time, the hypocritic Days,
 Muffled and dumb like barefoot dervishes,
 And marching single in an endless file,
 Bring diadems and fagots in their hands.
 To each they offer gifts after his will,
 Bread, kingdoms, stars, or sky that holds
      them all.
 I, in my pleached garden, watched the 
      pomp,
 Forgot my morning wishes, hastily
 Took a few herbs and apples, and the Day
 Turned and departed silent. I, too late,
 Under her solemn fillet saw the scorn.