"A poem is made up of thoughts,..." - Quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson
A poem is made up of thoughts, each of which filled the whole sky of the poet in its turn.
More by Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Doubt not, O poet, but persist. Say 'It is in me, and shall out.' Stand there, balked and dumb, stuttering and stammering, hissed and hooted, stand and strive, until at last rage draw out of thee that dream-power which every night shows thee is thine own; a power transcending all limit and privacy, and by virtue of which a man is the conductor of the whole river of electricity.”
“The health of the eye demands a horizon.”
“Let us be poised, wise and our own today.”
More on Poetry
“The arts of speech are rhetoric and poetry. Rhetoric is the art of transacting a serious business of the understanding as if it were a free play of the imagination; poetry that of conducting a free play of the imagination as if it were a serious business of the understanding.”
“We admire Chaucer for his sturdy English wit.... But though it is full of good sense and humanity, it is not transcendent poetry.For picturesque description of persons it is, perhaps, without a parallel in English poetry; yet it is essentially humorous, as the loftiest genius never is.”
“A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom.”
More on Thoughts
“Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habit.”
“Wisdom is avoiding all thoughts that weaken you.”
“Whenever you have a thought that excludes or judges anyone else, you aren't defining them. You're defining yourself as someone who needs to judge others.”