The Quotation IndexThe trusted reference for quotations and the sources behind them
Tag Tag Human potential
The only sin is limitation.
Ralph Waldo Emerson Circles · 1841

Quotes

“Hitch your wagon to a star.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson · Civilization, 1870 · Primary source

“The one thing in the world of value is the active soul.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson · The American Scholar, 1837 · Primary source

“The soul refuses limits, and always affirms an Optimism, never a Pessimism.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson · Compensation, 1841 · Primary source

“There is no outside, no inclosing wall, no circumference to us.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson · Circles, 1841 · Primary source

“The life of man is a self-evolving circle, which, from a ring imperceptibly small, rushes on all sides outwards to new and larger circles, and would embrace at last the universal sphere.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson · Circles, 1841 · Primary source

“Our problems are manmade—therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.”

John F. Kennedy · Commencement address at American University, 1963 · Primary source

“This is one country. It has become one country because all of us and all the people who came here had an equal chance to develop their talents.”

John F. Kennedy · Civil Rights Address, 1963 · Primary source

“Human resources are the most valuable assets the world has. They are all needed desperately.”

Eleanor Roosevelt · Tomorrow is Now, 1963 · Primary source

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson · No reliable source

Related Tags

Self-reliance 48 Personal agency 5 Independence 29 Action 21 Optimism 9 Spiritual growth 2 Transcendentalism 32 Aspiration 12 Limitlessness 1 Self-transcendence 2 Expansion 2 Personal growth 5 Universality 1 Limitation 1 Self-renewal 3 Ambition 17 Purpose 30 Ideals 2 Inner strength 1 Character 20 Resilience 28 Human agency 3 Problem-solving 9 Collective responsibility 2 Peace 8 Equal opportunity 2 National unity 4 Civil rights 6 Social mobility 2 Personal development 4 Capability 6 Opportunity 14 Youth 4