Masters of Oxymoronica: Ralph Waldo Emerson: drmardy.com

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Ralph Waldo Emerson
(1803-1882)

Ralph Waldo Emerson was born on May 25, 1803 in Boston, Massachusetts. The son of a Unitarian clergyman, he briefly followed in his father's footsteps, but after questioning Church doctrine, resigned from the ministry and devoted himself to the intellectual life. Emerson's personal doctrines of self-reliance and human potential not only reflected the emerging American consciousness, but help instill these as dominant values in the culture. His voluminous writings and popular lectures inspired countless people during his lifetime and millions more after his death. During the nineteenth century he was unquestionably America's foremost man of letters. Today, more than 120 years after his death, he holds the distinction of being the most widely quoted American author of all time. A "Master of Chiasmus" as well as a "Master of Oxymoronica," Emerson died at age 79 in his home in Concord, Massachusetts on April 27, 1882.

Knowledge is the knowing that we cannot know.	To hazard the contradiction— freedom is necessary.
When a man says to me, "I have the intensest love of nature," at once I know that he has none.	Pictures must not be too picturesque.
*All my best thoughts were stolen* by the ancients.**
The unsaid part is the best of every discourse.	The book written against fame and learning has the author's name on the title page.
People wish to be settled; only as far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them.
The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization.	The efforts which we make to escape from our destiny only serve to lead us into it.
Good men must not obey laws too well.	Good is a good doctor, but Bad is sometimes a better.
The silence that accepts merit as the most natural thing in the world is the highest applause.
We go to Europe to be Americanized.	A woman's strength is the unresistable might of weakness.
*A man often pays dear* for a small frugality.**