--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Emulation looks out for merits, that she…" description: "\"Emulation looks out for merits, that she may exalt herself by a victory; envy spies out blemishes that she may lower another by defeat.\" — Charles Cale..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd1/charles-caleb-colton-270_defeat_emulation-looks-out-for-merits-that-she_3185951.png" --- # Emulation looks out for merits, that she may exalt herself… ![“Emulation looks out for merits, that she may exalt herself by a victory; envy spies out blemishes that she may lower another by defeat.” quote by Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd1/charles-caleb-colton-270_defeat_emulation-looks-out-for-merits-that-she_3185951.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd1/charles-caleb-colton-270_defeat_emulation-looks-out-for-merits-that-she_3185951.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd1/charles-caleb-colton-270_defeat_emulation-looks-out-for-merits-that-she_3185951.png) > “Emulation looks out for merits, that she may exalt herself by a victory; envy spies out blemishes that she may lower another by defeat.” [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Emulating others can boost self‑esteem, while envy seeks to diminish others, highlighting contrasting motives. **In simple terms:** Emulation lifts self; envy drags others down. Key Takeaway Cultivate admiration, avoid envy. Themes self‑esteem competition motivation psychology Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - career advancement - team projects - personal ambition Key Concepts social comparison self‑image ethical conduct Questions to Reflect On - What drives your admiration of others? - How can you transform envy into inspiration? A Different Perspective Envy may arise even when intentions are good. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Defeat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defeat/) [Emulation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emulation/) [Emulation Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emulation-looks-5856998/) [Envy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/envy/) [Envy Spies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/envy-spies-5856997/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Jealousy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jealousy/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Merit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/merit/) [Spy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spy/) [Victory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victory/) [Victory Envy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victory-envy-5856996/) ## Related quotes > [I was induced to establish several orders of merit, from conviction that emulation, well directed, becomes a useful servant; and, that the latent genius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-lancaster/i-was-induced-to-establish-several-orders-of-merit-from-conviction/) [Joseph Lancaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-lancaster/) > [Emulation has been termed a spur to virtue, and assumes to be a spur of gold. But it is a spur composed of baser…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/emulation-has-been-termed-a-spur-to-virtue-and-assumes-to-be-a-spur/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Power. like the diamond, dazzles the beholder, and also the wearer; it dignifies meanness; it magnifies littleness; to what is contemptible, it gives authority;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/power-like-the-diamond-dazzles-the-beholder-and-also-the-wearer-it/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Constant success shows us but one side of the world. For as it surrounds us with friends who will tell us only our merits,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/constant-success-shows-us-but-one-side-of-the-world-for-as-it/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [For all the practical purposes of life, truth might as well be in a prison as in the folio of a schoolman; and those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/for-all-the-practical-purposes-of-life-truth-might-as-well-be-in-a/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [We should choose our books as we would our companions, for their sterling and intrinsic merit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/we-should-choose-our-books-as-we-would-our-companions-for-their/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [An envious fever of pale and bloodless emulation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/an-envious-fever-of-pale-and-bloodless-emulation/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Emulation admires and strives to imitate great actions; envy is only moved to malice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/emulation-admires-and-strives-to-imitate-great-actions-envy-is-only/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Unsuccessful emulation is too apt to sink into envy, which of all sins has not even the excuse to offer of temporary gratification.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-thompson-dobell/unsuccessful-emulation-is-too-apt-to-sink-into-envy-which-of-all-sins/) [Sydney Thompson Dobell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-thompson-dobell/) > [Emulation, even in brutes, is sensitively "nervous." See the tremor of the thoroughbred racer before he starts. The dray-horse does not tremble, but he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/emulation-even-in-brutes-is-sensitively-nervous-see-the-tremor-of-the/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [Emulation is grief arising from seeing one's self, exceeded or excelled by his concurrent, together with hope to equal or exceed him in time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/emulation-is-grief-arising-from-seeing-one-s-self-exceeded-or/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [No pedagogy which is truly liberating can remain distant from the oppressed by treating them as unfortunates and by presenting for their emulation models…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/no-pedagogy-which-is-truly-liberating-can-remain-distant-from-the/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [In particular, it is absurd to hope to banish envy of other people's possessions or fortunes, if only because the spirit of envy can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/in-particular-it-is-absurd-to-hope-to-banish-envy-of-other-people-s/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [I am far from any intention to limit curiosity, or confine the labours of learning to arts of immediate and necessary use. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/i-am-far-from-any-intention-to-limit-curiosity-or-confine-the-labours/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Terror has its inspiration, as well as competition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/terror-has-its-inspiration-as-well-as-competition/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) ## More by Charles Caleb Colton > [Villainy that is vigilant will be an overmatch for virtue, if she slumber at her post.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/villainy-that-is-vigilant-will-be-an-overmatch-for-virtue-if-she/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [A beautiful woman, if poor, should use double circumspection; for her beauty will tempt others, her poverty herself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/a-beautiful-woman-if-poor-should-use-double-circumspection-for-her/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Were the life of man prolonged, he would become such a proficient in villainy, that it would become necessary again to drown or to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/were-the-life-of-man-prolonged-he-would-become-such-a-proficient-in/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [To dare to live alone is the rarest courage; since there are many who had rather meet their bitterest enemy in the field, than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/to-dare-to-live-alone-is-the-rarest-courage-since-there-are-many-who/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [It is doubtful whether mankind are most indebted to those who like Bacon and Butler dig the gold from the mine of literature, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/it-is-doubtful-whether-mankind-are-most-indebted-to-those-who-like/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Be very slow to believe that you are wiser than all others; it is a fatal but common error. Where one has been saved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/be-very-slow-to-believe-that-you-are-wiser-than-all-others-it-is-a/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [None are so fond of secrets as those who do not mean to keep them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/none-are-so-fond-of-secrets-as-those-who-do-not-mean-to-keep-them/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Mental pleasures never cloy; unlike those of the body, they are increased by reputation, approved by reflection, and strengthened by enjoyment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/mental-pleasures-never-cloy-unlike-those-of-the-body-they-are/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Ignorance lies at the bottom of all human knowledge, and the deeper we penetrate, the nearer we arrive unto it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/ignorance-lies-at-the-bottom-of-all-human-knowledge-and-the-deeper-we/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Heroism, self-denial, and magnanimity, in all instances where they do not spring from a principle of religion, are but splendid altars on which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/heroism-self-denial-and-magnanimity-in-all-instances-where-they-do/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [We ought not to be over-anxious to encourage innovation in cases of doubtful improvement, for an old system must ever have two advantages over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/we-ought-not-to-be-over-anxious-to-encourage-innovation-in-cases-of/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [We owe almost all our knowledge not to those who have agreed, but to those who have differed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/we-owe-almost-all-our-knowledge-not-to-those-who-have-agreed-but-to/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Metaphysicians have been learning their lessons for the last four thousand years, and it is high time that they should now begin to teach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/metaphysicians-have-been-learning-their-lessons-for-the-last-four/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Faith and works are necessary to our spiritual life as Christians, as soul and body are to our natural life as men; for faith…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/faith-and-works-are-necessary-to-our-spiritual-life-as-christians-as/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [When all moves equally (says Pascal), nothing seems to move as in a vessel under sail; and when all run by common consent into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/when-all-moves-equally-says-pascal-nothing-seems-to-move-as-in-a/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) [Explore all 778 Charles Caleb Colton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) ## More Defeat quotes > [A poor self-image is the magnifying glass that can transform a trivial mistake or an imperfection into an overwhelming symbol of personal defeat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-d-burns/a-poor-self-image-is-the-magnifying-glass-that-can-transform-a/) [David D. 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