Ambition Quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Our country, customs, laws, our ambitions, and our notions of fit and fair-all these we never made; we found them ready-made; we but quote from them. What would remain to me if this art of appropriation were derogatory to genius? Every one of my writings has been furnished to me by a thousand different persons, a thousand things; wise and foolish have brought me, without suspecting it, the offering of their thoughts, faculties, and experience. My work is an aggregation of beings taken from the whole of nature. It bears the name of Goethe.”
About This Quote
Source Essay: “The American Scholar” (1841) discussing intellectual appropriation
Highlights that ideas are collective, built upon countless influences, and that originality stems from synthesis, not isolation.
In simple terms: Ideas are shared, not owned.
Key Takeaway
Embrace collective inspiration.
Themes
creativity
influence
authorship
Mood
reflective
intellectual
Type
philosophical
literary
When to use this quote
- writing essays
- academic research
- artistic collaboration
Key Concepts
intertextuality
cultural exchange
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you credit sources?
- What balance between influence and originality?
A Different Perspective
Risk of losing individual voice.
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