---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Emulation embalms the dead; envy, the…"
description: "\"Emulation embalms the dead; envy, the vampire, blasts the living.\" — Henry Fuseli"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/henry-fuseli-27487_blast_emulation-embalms-the-dead-envy-the-vamp_2458654.jpg"
---

#  Emulation embalms the dead; envy, the vampire, blasts the…

![“Emulation embalms the dead; envy, the vampire, blasts the living.” quote by Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/henry-fuseli-27487_blast_emulation-embalms-the-dead-envy-the-vamp_2458654.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/henry-fuseli-27487_blast_emulation-embalms-the-dead-envy-the-vamp_2458654.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/henry-fuseli-27487_blast_emulation-embalms-the-dead-envy-the-vamp_2458654.jpg)

> “Emulation embalms the dead; envy, the vampire, blasts the living.”

[Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Imitation can preserve the dead, but envy consumes the living like a vampire.

**In simple terms:** Imitation preserves; envy destroys.

Key Takeaway

Beware envy’s destructive power.

Themes

art psychology mortality

Mood

cautionary reflective

Type

philosophical poetic

When to use this quote

- creative legacy
- personal rivalry
- social comparison
- mental health

Key Concepts

emulation envy vampire metaphor

Questions to Reflect On

- What drives your emulation?
- Can envy be channeled constructively?

A Different Perspective

Envy may also motivate positive change.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Envy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/envy/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Vampire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vampire/)

## Related quotes

> [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/)

> [“Their regard may be mutually useful, since much is to be expected from emulation where nothing is to be feared from envy. I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fanny-burney/their-regard-may-be-mutually-useful-since-much-is-to-be-expected-from/)

[Fanny Burney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fanny-burney/)

> [Where there is emulation, there will be vanity; where there is vanity, there will be folly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/where-there-is-emulation-there-will-be-vanity-where-there-is-vanity/)

[Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/)

> [As an advocate of birth control I wish to point out that the unbalance between the birth rate of the 'unfit' and the 'fit,'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-sanger/as-an-advocate-of-birth-control-i-wish-to-point-out-that-the/)

[Margaret Sanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-sanger/)

> [Praise begets emulation,--a goodly seed to sow among youthful students.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/praise-begets-emulation-a-goodly-seed-to-sow-among-youthful-students/)

[Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/)

> [With the exception of the instinct of self-preservation, the propensity for emulation is probably the strongest and most alert and persistent of the economic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/with-the-exception-of-the-instinct-of-self-preservation-the/)

[Thorstein Veblen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/)

> [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/)

> [Give me the boy who rouses when he is praised, who profits when he is encouraged and who cries when he is defeated. Such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/give-me-the-boy-who-rouses-when-he-is-praised-who-profits-when-he-is/)

[Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/)

## More by Henry Fuseli

> [When we idealize the real, we sacrifice to artistic fancy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/when-we-idealize-the-real-we-sacrifice-to-artistic-fancy/)

[Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/)

> [Heaven and earth, advantages and obstacles, conspire to educate genius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/heaven-and-earth-advantages-and-obstacles-conspire-to-educate-genius/)

[Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/)

> [Tintoretto attempted to fill the line of Michelangelo with color, without tracing its principle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/tintoretto-attempted-to-fill-the-line-of-michelangelo-with-color/)

[Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/)

> [Blake is damned good to steal from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/blake-is-damned-good-to-steal-from/)

[Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/)

> [Life is rapid, art is slow, occasion coy, practice fallacious, and judgment partial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/life-is-rapid-art-is-slow-occasion-coy-practice-fallacious-and/)

[Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/)

> [Art among a religious race produces relics; among a military one, trophies; among a commercial one, articles of trade.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/art-among-a-religious-race-produces-relics-among-a-military-one/)

[Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/)

> [All actions and attitudes of children are graceful because they are the luxuriant and immediate offspring of the moment - divested of affectation and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/all-actions-and-attitudes-of-children-are-graceful-because-they-are/)

[Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/)

> [Our ideas are the offspring of our senses; we are not more able to create the form of a being we have not seen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/our-ideas-are-the-offspring-of-our-senses-we-are-not-more-able-to/)

[Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/)

> [The price of excellence is labor, and time that of immortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/the-price-of-excellence-is-labor-and-time-that-of-immortality/)

[Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/)

> [Expression alone can invest beauty with supreme and lasting command over the eye.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/expression-alone-can-invest-beauty-with-supreme-and-lasting-command/)

[Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/)

> [ Art among a religious race produces reliques \[sic\]; among a military one, trophies; among a commercial one, articles of trade. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/art-among-a-religious-race-produces-reliques-sic-among-a-military-one/)

[Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/)

> [Nature puts me out](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/nature-puts-me-out/)

[Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/)

> [Art, like love, excludes all competition and absorbs the man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/art-like-love-excludes-all-competition-and-absorbs-the-man/)

[Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/)

> [Selection is the invention of the landscape painter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/selection-is-the-invention-of-the-landscape-painter/)

[Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/)

> [Indiscriminate pursuit of perfection infallibly leads to mediocrity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/indiscriminate-pursuit-of-perfection-infallibly-leads-to-mediocrity/)

[Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/)

[Explore all 20 Henry Fuseli quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/)

## More Blast quotes

> [Singing is a f\*\*\*ing blast. When it’s really good, it’s as good as the best sex. I get nipple erections all the time on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-osborne/singing-is-a-f-ing-blast-when-it-s-really-good-it-s-as-good-as-the/)

[Joan Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-osborne/)

> ['Bengal Tiger' is huge film for me, and I had a blast working with both Ravi Teja and Tamannaah.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raashi-khanna/bengal-tiger-is-huge-film-for-me-and-i-had-a-blast-working-with-both/)

[Raashi Khanna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raashi-khanna/)

> [CGI has fully ruined car crashes. Because how can you be impressed with them now? When you watch them in the '70s, it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-tarantino/cgi-has-fully-ruined-car-crashes-because-how-can-you-be-impressed/)

[Quentin Tarantino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-tarantino/)

> [You can say that a small attack is one in which relatively few people die, but the minute you say that, you can sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karan-mahajan/you-can-say-that-a-small-attack-is-one-in-which-relatively-few-people/)

[Karan Mahajan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karan-mahajan/)

> [He must be independent and brave, and sure of himself and of the importance of his work, because if he isn't he will never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-e-sherwood/he-must-be-independent-and-brave-and-sure-of-himself-and-of-the/)

[Robert E. Sherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-e-sherwood/)

> [I think it's funny. There was a time when men were afraid that somebody would reveal some secret of theirs that was unknown to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/i-think-it-s-funny-there-was-a-time-when-men-were-afraid-that/)

[Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/)

> [I could easily blast so much keef night and day I become a bouhali; a real-gone crazy, a holy untouchable madman unto whom everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brion-gysin/i-could-easily-blast-so-much-keef-night-and-day-i-become-a-bouhali-a/)

[Brion Gysin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brion-gysin/)

> [I usually write in my underwear, with a space heater running full blast, and three dogs sleeping at me feet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-evison/i-usually-write-in-my-underwear-with-a-space-heater-running-full/)

[Jonathan Evison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-evison/)

> [Capricious, wanton, bold, and brutal Lust Is meanly selfish; when resisted, cruel; And, like the blast of Pestilential Winds, Taints the sweet bloom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/capricious-wanton-bold-and-brutal-lust-is-meanly-selfish-when/)

[John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/)

> [I wanted to deconstruct the puppet show. I wanted to turn it inside out and do stuff that you're not supposed to do. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-white/i-wanted-to-deconstruct-the-puppet-show-i-wanted-to-turn-it-inside/)

[Wayne White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-white/)

> [The scent organ was playing a delightfully refreshing Herbal Capriccio - rippling arpeggios of thyme and lavender, of rosemary, basil, myrtle, tarragon; a series…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-scent-organ-was-playing-a-delightfully-refreshing-herbal/)

[Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/)

> [Without challenges, the human body will soften. We thrive when we push our boundaries, reach goals, and blast personal records. We perform better, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-john/without-challenges-the-human-body-will-soften-we-thrive-when-we-push/)

[Dan John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-john/)

> [If you allow one single germ, one single seed of slavery to remain in the soil of America... that germ will spring up, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernestine-rose/if-you-allow-one-single-germ-one-single-seed-of-slavery-to-remain-in/)

[Ernestine Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernestine-rose/)

> [Whither away, Bluebird, Whither away? The blast is chill, yet in the upper sky Thou still canst find the color of thy wing, The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/whither-away-bluebird-whither-away-the-blast-is-chill-yet-in-the/)

[Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/)

> [With this blistering salvo of poetic gutshots Lawson has proven himself Bizarro’s true bard, its mad laureate. Switching from dark whimsy to retina-blast shock…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-robert-johnson/with-this-blistering-salvo-of-poetic-gutshots-lawson-has-proven/)

[Jeremy Robert Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-robert-johnson/)

Browse all 437 Blast quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Emulation embalms the dead; envy, the vampire, blasts the living.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Henry Fuseli"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/emulation-embalms-the-dead-envy-the-vampire-blasts-the-living/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Blast"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/emulation-embalms-the-dead-envy-the-vampire-blasts-the-living/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/henry-fuseli-27487_blast_emulation-embalms-the-dead-envy-the-vamp_2458654.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/henry-fuseli-27487_blast_emulation-embalms-the-dead-envy-the-vamp_2458654.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/henry-fuseli-27487_blast_emulation-embalms-the-dead-envy-the-vamp_2458654.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Emulation embalms the dead; envy, the vampire, blasts the living.” — Henry Fuseli",
                "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": "Henry Fuseli",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Emulation embalms the dead; envy, the...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/emulation-embalms-the-dead-envy-the-vampire-blasts-the-living/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/emulation-embalms-the-dead-envy-the-vampire-blasts-the-living/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```