---
title: "5 Engaged Quotes By Ralph Waldo Emerson"
description: "5 Engaged quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Plus more from Ralph Waldo Emerson and more Engaged sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/798/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_engaged_very-few-of-our-race-can-be-said-to-be-y_144014.png"
---

> [Very few of our race can be said to be yet finished men. We still carry sticking to us some remains of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/very-few-of-our-race-can-be-said-to-be-yet-finished-men-we-still/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/798/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_engaged_very-few-of-our-race-can-be-said-to-be-y_144014.png)

> [I am primarily engaged to myself to be a public servant of all the gods, to demonstrate to all men that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-am-primarily-engaged-to-myself-to-be-a-public-servant-of-all-the/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_all-things_i-am-primarily-engaged-to-myself-to-be-a_552683.jpg)

> [I must feel pride in my friend's accomplishments as if they were mine,--and a property in his virtues. I feel as warmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-must-feel-pride-in-my-friend-s-accomplishments-as-if-they-were-mine/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f4/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_accomplishment_i-must-feel-pride-in-my-friend-s-accompl_984163.png)

> [I am not engaged to Christianity by decent forms, or saving ordinances; it is not usage, it is not what I do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-am-not-engaged-to-christianity-by-decent-forms-or-saving-ordinances/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a50/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_accord_i-am-not-engaged-to-christianity-by-dece_1187725.jpg)

> [Repose and cheerfulness are the badge of the gentleman - repose in energy. The Greek battle pieces are calm; the heroes, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/repose-and-cheerfulness-are-the-badge-of-the-gentleman-repose-in/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fa/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_action_repose-and-cheerfulness-are-the-badge-of_1762523.png)

## Other authors on Engaged

## More by Ralph Waldo Emerson

> [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-we-will-not-interfere-with-our-thought-but-will-act-entirely-or/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-cannot-speak-but-he-judges-himself-with-his-will-or-against-his/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/consideration-is-the-soil-in-which-wisdom-may-be-expected-to-grow-and/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [“There is then creative reading as well as creative writing. When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-then-creative-reading-as-well-as-creative-writing-when-the/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [The order of things consents to virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-order-of-things-consents-to-virtue/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [Life only avails, not the having lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/life-only-avails-not-the-having-lived/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [A child reminds us that playtime is an essential part of our daily routine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-child-reminds-us-that-playtime-is-an-essential-part-of-our-daily/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [No man can be criticised but by a greater than he. Do not, then, read the reviews.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/no-man-can-be-criticised-but-by-a-greater-than-he-do-not-then-read/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [I am; therefore, I had nothing better to do than to think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-am-therefore-i-had-nothing-better-to-do-than-to-think/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends, but they are imprisoned by an enchanter in these paper and leathern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-a-library-we-are-surrounded-by-many-hundreds-of-dear-friends-but/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [The compensations of calamity are made apparent to the understanding also, after long intervals of time. A fever, a mutilation, a cruel disappointment, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-compensations-of-calamity-are-made-apparent-to-the-understanding/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engaged/ralph-waldo-emerson/#itemlist",
            "name": "5 Engaged Quotes By Ralph Waldo Emerson",
            "numberOfItems": 5,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Very few of our race can be said to be yet finished men. We still carry sticking to us some remains of the preceding inferior quadruped organization. We call these millions men; but they are not yet men. Half-engaged in the soil, pawing to get free, man needs all the music that can be brought to disengage him.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Ralph Waldo Emerson"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/very-few-of-our-race-can-be-said-to-be-yet-finished-men-we-still/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/798/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_engaged_very-few-of-our-race-can-be-said-to-be-y_144014.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/798/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_engaged_very-few-of-our-race-can-be-said-to-be-y_144014.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/798/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_engaged_very-few-of-our-race-can-be-said-to-be-y_144014.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Very few of our race can be said to be yet finished men. We still carry sticking to us some remains of the…” — Ralph Waldo Emerson",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I am primarily engaged to myself to be a public servant of all the gods, to demonstrate to all men that there is intelligence andgood will at the heart of all things, and even higher and yet higher leadings. These are my engagements; how can your law further or hinder me in what I shall do to men?",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Ralph Waldo Emerson"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-am-primarily-engaged-to-myself-to-be-a-public-servant-of-all-the/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_all-things_i-am-primarily-engaged-to-myself-to-be-a_552683.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_all-things_i-am-primarily-engaged-to-myself-to-be-a_552683.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_all-things_i-am-primarily-engaged-to-myself-to-be-a_552683.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I am primarily engaged to myself to be a public servant of all the gods, to demonstrate to all men that…” — Ralph Waldo Emerson",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I must feel pride in my friend's accomplishments as if they were mine,--and a property in his virtues. I feel as warmly when he ispraised, as the lover when he hears applause of his engaged maiden.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Ralph Waldo Emerson"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-must-feel-pride-in-my-friend-s-accomplishments-as-if-they-were-mine/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f4/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_accomplishment_i-must-feel-pride-in-my-friend-s-accompl_984163.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f4/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_accomplishment_i-must-feel-pride-in-my-friend-s-accompl_984163.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f4/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_accomplishment_i-must-feel-pride-in-my-friend-s-accompl_984163.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I must feel pride in my friend's accomplishments as if they were mine,--and a property in his virtues. I…” — Ralph Waldo Emerson",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "I am not engaged to Christianity by decent forms, or saving ordinances; it is not usage, it is not what I do not understand, that binds me to it -- let these be the sandy foundations of falsehoods. What I revere and obey in it is its reality, its boundless charity, its deep interior life, the rest it gives to my mind, the echo it returns to my thoughts, the perfect accord it makes with my reason through all its representation of God and His Providence; and the persuasion and courage that come out thence to lead me upward and onward.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Ralph Waldo Emerson"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-am-not-engaged-to-christianity-by-decent-forms-or-saving-ordinances/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a50/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_accord_i-am-not-engaged-to-christianity-by-dece_1187725.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a50/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_accord_i-am-not-engaged-to-christianity-by-dece_1187725.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a50/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_accord_i-am-not-engaged-to-christianity-by-dece_1187725.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“I am not engaged to Christianity by decent forms, or saving ordinances; it is not usage, it is not what I do…” — Ralph Waldo Emerson",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "Repose and cheerfulness are the badge of the gentleman - repose in energy. The Greek battle pieces are calm; the heroes, in whatever violent actions engaged, retain a serene aspect.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Ralph Waldo Emerson"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/repose-and-cheerfulness-are-the-badge-of-the-gentleman-repose-in/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fa/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_action_repose-and-cheerfulness-are-the-badge-of_1762523.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fa/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_action_repose-and-cheerfulness-are-the-badge-of_1762523.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fa/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_action_repose-and-cheerfulness-are-the-badge-of_1762523.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Repose and cheerfulness are the badge of the gentleman - repose in energy. The Greek battle pieces are calm…” — Ralph Waldo Emerson",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engaged/ralph-waldo-emerson/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engaged/ralph-waldo-emerson/",
            "name": "Engaged Quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engaged/ralph-waldo-emerson/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/798/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_engaged_very-few-of-our-race-can-be-said-to-be-y_144014.png"
            },
            "description": "5 Engaged quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Plus more from Ralph Waldo Emerson and more Engaged sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engaged/ralph-waldo-emerson/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engaged/ralph-waldo-emerson/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Engaged",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engaged/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Ralph Waldo Emerson",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/engaged/ralph-waldo-emerson/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
