--- title: "8 Meanness Quotes By Ralph Waldo Emerson" description: "8 Meanness quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Plus more from Ralph Waldo Emerson and more Meanness sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/558/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_boys_it-is-contended-that-those-who-have-been_392366.jpg" --- > [It is contended that those who have been bred at Eton, Harrow, Rugby, and Westminster, that the public sentiment within each of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/it-is-contended-that-those-who-have-been-bred-at-eton-harrow-rugby/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/558/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_boys_it-is-contended-that-those-who-have-been_392366.jpg) > [“What I must do, is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/what-i-must-do-is-all-that-concerns-me-not-what-the-people-think-this/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cb/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_concern_what-i-must-do-is-all-that-concerns-me-n_446890.png) > [What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/what-i-must-do-is-all-that-concerns-me-not-what-the-people-think-this-2/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91e/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_concern_what-i-must-do-is-all-that-concerns-me-n_519080.jpg) > [Prayer that craves a particular commodity—anything less than all good, is vicious. Prayer is the contemplation of the facts of life from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/prayer-that-craves-a-particular-commodity-anything-less-than-all-good/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/400/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_commodity_prayer-that-craves-a-particular-commodit_573582.jpg) > [Foolish, whenever you take the meanness and formality of that thing you do, instead of converting it into the obedient spiracle ofyour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/foolish-whenever-you-take-the-meanness-and-formality-of-that-thing/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a4/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_aim_foolish-whenever-you-take-the-meanness-a_1308771.png) > [There is always a certain meanness in the argument of conservatism, joined with a certain superiority in its fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-always-a-certain-meanness-in-the-argument-of-conservatism/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dee/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_argument_there-is-always-a-certain-meanness-in-th_1752794.png) > [Lovers should guard their strangeness. If they forgive too much, all slides into confusion and meanness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/lovers-should-guard-their-strangeness-if-they-forgive-too-much-all/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42a/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_confusion_lovers-should-guard-their-strangeness-if_2361003.png) > [Prayer as a means to effect a private end is theft and meanness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/prayer-as-a-means-to-effect-a-private-end-is-theft-and-meanness/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/624/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_effects_prayer-as-a-means-to-effect-a-private-en_2816200.png) ## Other authors on Meanness - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b011/author-henry-david-thoreau-41473.jpg) Henry David Thoreau 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meanness/henry-david-thoreau/) ## 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/meanness/ralph-waldo-emerson/#itemlist", "name": "8 Meanness Quotes By Ralph Waldo Emerson", "numberOfItems": 8, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is contended that those who have been bred at Eton, Harrow, Rugby, and Westminster, that the public sentiment within each of those schools is high-toned and manly; that, in their playgrounds, courage is universally admired, meanness despised, manly feelings and generous conduct are encouraged: that an unwritten code of honor deals to the spoiled child of rank, and to the child of upstart wealth an even-handed justice, purges their nonsense out of both, and does all that can be done to make them gentlemen.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ralph Waldo Emerson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/it-is-contended-that-those-who-have-been-bred-at-eton-harrow-rugby/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/558/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_boys_it-is-contended-that-those-who-have-been_392366.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/558/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_boys_it-is-contended-that-those-who-have-been_392366.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/558/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_boys_it-is-contended-that-those-who-have-been_392366.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is contended that those who have been bred at Eton, Harrow, Rugby, and Westminster, that the public…” — Ralph Waldo Emerson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“What I must do, is all that concerns me, not what the people think. 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