--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is better to be the hammer than the…" description: "\"It is better to be the hammer than the anvil.\" — Emily Dickinson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd6/emily-dickinson-310_quote_it-is-better-to-be-the-hammer-than-the-a_1896539.jpg" --- # It is better to be the hammer than the anvil. ![“It is better to be the hammer than the anvil.” quote by Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd6/emily-dickinson-310_quote_it-is-better-to-be-the-hammer-than-the-a_1896539.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd6/emily-dickinson-310_quote_it-is-better-to-be-the-hammer-than-the-a_1896539.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd6/emily-dickinson-310_quote_it-is-better-to-be-the-hammer-than-the-a_1896539.jpg) > “It is better to be the hammer than the anvil.” [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Choosing an active role empowers you, while passive acceptance leaves you vulnerable. **In simple terms:** Be the hammer, not the anvil. Key Takeaway Take decisive action. Themes agency strength resilience Mood determined assertive Type literary advice When to use this quote - conflict resolution - career decisions - personal boundaries - leadership Key Concepts metaphor empowerment psychology Questions to Reflect On - When have you been passive? - How can you balance action with rest? A Different Perspective Active stance can cause burnout if unchecked. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anvil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anvil/) [Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better/) [Better Hammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-hammer-2771822/) [Hammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hammer/) [Hammer Anvil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hammer-anvil-647163/) ## Related quotes > [“Suffer or triumph, be the hammer or the anvil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/suffer-or-triumph-be-the-hammer-or-the-anvil/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I would rather be the hammer than the anvil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-rommel/i-would-rather-be-the-hammer-than-the-anvil/) [Erwin Rommel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-rommel/) > [“Life's a forge! Yes, and hammer and anvil, too! You'll be roasted, smelted, and pounded, and you'll scarce know what's happening to you. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-alexander/life-s-a-forge-yes-and-hammer-and-anvil-too-you-ll-be-roasted-smelted/) [Lloyd Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-alexander/) > [A man who governs his passions is master of his world. We must either command them or be enslaved by them. It is better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-dominic/a-man-who-governs-his-passions-is-master-of-his-world-we-must-either/) [Saint Dominic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-dominic/) > [You must be either the servant or the master, the hammer or the anvil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/you-must-be-either-the-servant-or-the-master-the-hammer-or-the-anvil/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Thou must (in commanding and winning, or serving and losing, suffering or triumphing) be either anvil or hammer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/thou-must-in-commanding-and-winning-or-serving-and-losing-suffering/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“It is always the anvil that breaks the hammer, never the other way about.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-is-always-the-anvil-that-breaks-the-hammer-never-the-other-way/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“For all your days prepare, And meet them ever alike: When you are the anvil, bear-When you are the hammer, strike.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-markham/for-all-your-days-prepare-and-meet-them-ever-alike-when-you-are-the/) [Edwin Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-markham/) > [In France every man is either an anvil or a hammer; he is a beater or must be beaten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/in-france-every-man-is-either-an-anvil-or-a-hammer-he-is-a-beater-or/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [An educated man who studies hammer but doesn't know anything about an anvil is an uneducated man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/an-educated-man-who-studies-hammer-but-doesn-t-know-anything-about-an/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [The anvil never takes advice from the hammer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/the-anvil-never-takes-advice-from-the-hammer/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Every man who strikes blows for power, for influence, for institutions, for the right, must be just as good an anvil as he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/every-man-who-strikes-blows-for-power-for-influence-for-institutions/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [The anvil is not afraid of the hammer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/the-anvil-is-not-afraid-of-the-hammer/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Hammer the iron that lies on your anvil instead of daydreaming about working silver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jordan/hammer-the-iron-that-lies-on-your-anvil-instead-of-daydreaming-about/) [Robert Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jordan/) > [In this world man must either be anvil or hammer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/in-this-world-man-must-either-be-anvil-or-hammer/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) ## More by Emily Dickinson > [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [I could not prove the Years had feet-/Yet confident they run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/i-could-not-prove-the-years-had-feet-yet-confident-they-run/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [How softly summer shuts, without the creaking of a door.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/how-softly-summer-shuts-without-the-creaking-of-a-door/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [“Could you tell me how to grow--or is it unconveyed--like Melody--or Witchcraft?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/could-you-tell-me-how-to-grow-or-is-it-unconveyed-like-melody-or/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [It might be lonelier Without the Loneliness - I’m so accustomed to my Fate - Perhaps the Other - Peace - Would interrupt the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/it-might-be-lonelier-without-the-loneliness-i-m-so-accustomed-to-my/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [“Inebriate of Air — am I — And Debauchee of Dew — Reeling — thro endless summer days — From Inns of Molten Blue —”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/inebriate-of-air-am-i-and-debauchee-of-dew-reeling-thro-endless/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [Luck is not chance, it's toil; fortune's expensive smile is earned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/luck-is-not-chance-it-s-toil-fortune-s-expensive-smile-is-earned/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [The abdication of Belief Makes the Behavior small- Better an ignis fatuus Than no illume at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/the-abdication-of-belief-makes-the-behavior-small-better-an-ignis/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [Longing is like a seed that wrestles in the ground](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/longing-is-like-a-seed-that-wrestles-in-the-ground/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [“He ate and drank the precious words, His spirit grew robust; He knew no more that he was poor, Nor that his frame was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/he-ate-and-drank-the-precious-words-his-spirit-grew-robust-he-knew-no/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [I SEE thee better in the dark, I do not need a light. The love of thee a prism be Excelling violet. I see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/i-see-thee-better-in-the-dark-i-do-not-need-a-light-the-love-of-thee/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [One step at a time is all it takes to get you there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/one-step-at-a-time-is-all-it-takes-to-get-you-there/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [“Whose fingers string the stalactite- Who counts the Wampum of the night”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/whose-fingers-string-the-stalactite-who-counts-the-wampum-of-the-night/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [My life closed twice before its close](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/my-life-closed-twice-before-its-close/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [Until you have loved, you cannot become yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/until-you-have-loved-you-cannot-become-yourself/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) [Explore all 692 Emily Dickinson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) ## More Anvil quotes > [You tell that to the people who are dying everyday in Anvil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jin-kazama/you-tell-that-to-the-people-who-are-dying-everyday-in-anvil/) [Jin Kazama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jin-kazama/) > [In this world man must either be anvil or hammer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/in-this-world-man-must-either-be-anvil-or-hammer/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Let me think... I wonder if an anvil will drop like an apple?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/let-me-think-i-wonder-if-an-anvil-will-drop-like-an-apple/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [Hammer the iron that lies on your anvil instead of daydreaming about working silver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jordan/hammer-the-iron-that-lies-on-your-anvil-instead-of-daydreaming-about/) [Robert Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jordan/) > [Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king born of all England.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malory/whoso-pulleth-out-this-sword-of-this-stone-and-anvil-is-rightwise/) [Thomas Malory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malory/) > [The anvil is not afraid of the hammer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/the-anvil-is-not-afraid-of-the-hammer/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [When your opponent is drowning, throw the son of a bitch an anvil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-carville/when-your-opponent-is-drowning-throw-the-son-of-a-bitch-an-anvil/) [James Carville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-carville/) > [“Stand like a beaten anvil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ignatius-bishop-and-martyr/stand-like-a-beaten-anvil/) [Ignatius Bishop and Martyr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ignatius-bishop-and-martyr/) > [You must either conquer and rule or serve and lose, suffer or triumph, be the anvil or the hammer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/you-must-either-conquer-and-rule-or-serve-and-lose-suffer-or-triumph/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Harsh counsels have no effect; they are like hammers which are always repulsed by the anvil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-adrien-helvetius/harsh-counsels-have-no-effect-they-are-like-hammers-which-are-always/) [Claude Adrien Helvetius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-adrien-helvetius/) > [“Because it is on the anvil of pain that the gods forge heroes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-l-werner/because-it-is-on-the-anvil-of-pain-that-the-gods-forge-heroes/) [C.L. Werner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-l-werner/) > [I would rather be the hammer than the anvil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-rommel/i-would-rather-be-the-hammer-than-the-anvil/) [Erwin Rommel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-rommel/) > [If you're a blacksmith, probably the proudest day of your life is when you get your first anvil. How innocent you are, little blacksmith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-handey/if-you-re-a-blacksmith-probably-the-proudest-day-of-your-life-is-when/) [Jack Handey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-handey/) > [You must be either the servant or the master, the hammer or the anvil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/you-must-be-either-the-servant-or-the-master-the-hammer-or-the-anvil/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“For all your years prepare, And meet them ever alike; When you are the anvil, bear-- When you are the hammer, strike. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-markham/for-all-your-years-prepare-and-meet-them-ever-alike-when-you-are-the/) [Edwin Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-markham/) [Browse all 52 Anvil quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anvil/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is better to be the hammer than the anvil.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Emily Dickinson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/it-is-better-to-be-the-hammer-than-the-anvil/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anvil" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/it-is-better-to-be-the-hammer-than-the-anvil/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd6/emily-dickinson-310_quote_it-is-better-to-be-the-hammer-than-the-a_1896539.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd6/emily-dickinson-310_quote_it-is-better-to-be-the-hammer-than-the-a_1896539.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd6/emily-dickinson-310_quote_it-is-better-to-be-the-hammer-than-the-a_1896539.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is better to be the hammer than the anvil.” — Emily Dickinson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "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": "Emily Dickinson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is better to be the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/it-is-better-to-be-the-hammer-than-the-anvil/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/it-is-better-to-be-the-hammer-than-the-anvil/#breadcrumb" }, { "@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 } } ] } ```