I do not wish to expiate, but to live. My life is for itself and not for a spectacle. I much prefer that it should be of a lower strain, so it be gen… - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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I do not wish to expiate, but to live. My life is for itself and not for a spectacle. I much prefer that it should be of a lower strain, so it be genuine and equal, than that it should be glittering and unsteady. I wish it to be sound and sweet, and not to need diet and bleeding.

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About Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson (25 May 1803 – 27 April 1882) was an American philosopher, essayist, and poet.

Biography information from Wikiquote

Also Known As

Alternative Names: R. W. Emerson • Waldo Emerson
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Originators like Ralph Waldo Emerson:
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Henry David Thoreau Michel de Montaigne Friedrich Nietzsche Thomas Carlyle

Additional quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson

We think our civilization near its meridian, but we are yet only at the cock-crowing and the morning star. In our barbarous society the influence of character is in its infancy. As a political power, as the rightful lord who is to tumble all rulers from their chairs, its presence is hardly yet suspected
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We love flattery, even though we are not deceived by it, because it shows that we are of importance enough to be courted.
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