quote

[kath0345]

I'm writing a paper on the quote "what lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us" by Ralph Waldo Emerson I need to know when he said this? what writing is it from?

[togre]

I found this on the official Ralph Waldo Emerson site rwe. org in their "Frequent Queries" Section:

Q. Can you tell me the source of the quote "What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

A. This quote is often attributed to Emerson, especially on the Internet. However, it does not appear in the Complete Works, nor in the Complete Journals. Various Internet sites (search Google) reveal both Henry Thoreau and Oliver Wendell Holmes as sources, although the sites do not list any sources. The best solution at present is NOT to attribute the quote to Emerson.

[togre]

Did some more digging. Wikiquotes is the only site on which I've found any sourcing of the quote. Most websites have people attributing it to Emerson or Holmes. Whether or not this is true Henry S. Haskins published it in Meditations in Wall Street (1940) on pg 131. Whether or not he stole it or not, is a more difficult question.

My own (unsolicited) advice is, if your paper is about the content and meaning of the quote, be brief in dealing with its source and admit the inability to accurately trace it to someone famous. If your paper is about Emerson, maybe develop a case as to why it is attributed to him when he didn't write it, or cry and start over.



PS: I searched this sites list of works by Holmes and found no hits. This may or may not be conclusive on the issue of Holmes' involvement---I don't know whether we have the complete or selected works of Holmes.

[BLUE66Rose]

I'm writing a paper on the quote "what lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us" by Ralph Waldo Emerson I need to know when he said this? what writing is it from?

This is a well-known one ,But I just forgot who said .