--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A cultivated man, wise to know and bold…" description: "\"A cultivated man, wise to know and bold to perform, is the end to which nature works.\" — Ralph Waldo Emerson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21d/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_cultivated_a-cultivated-man-wise-to-know-and-bold-t_3018144.png" --- # A cultivated man, wise to know and bold to perform, is the… ![“A cultivated man, wise to know and bold to perform, is the end to which nature works.” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21d/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_cultivated_a-cultivated-man-wise-to-know-and-bold-t_3018144.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21d/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_cultivated_a-cultivated-man-wise-to-know-and-bold-t_3018144.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21d/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_cultivated_a-cultivated-man-wise-to-know-and-bold-t_3018144.png) > “A cultivated man, wise to know and bold to perform, is the end to which nature works.” [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A cultivated, wise, and bold individual embodies the purpose of nature’s work, aligning personal virtue with natural order. **In simple terms:** Cultivated boldness fulfills nature’s purpose. Key Takeaway Cultivate wisdom and boldness. Themes nature virtue boldness wisdom Mood inspirational reflective Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal growth - leadership - ethical decision-making Key Concepts Self-actualization philosophical purpose Questions to Reflect On - What does boldness mean to you? - How does nature guide personal growth? A Different Perspective Nature’s purpose may be interpreted subjectively. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Humankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humankind/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) ## Related quotes > [Two forces are succesfully influencing the education of a cultivated man: art and science. 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A highly cultivated man,--all whose bones can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/there-may-be-an-excess-of-cultivation-as-well-as-of-anything-else/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [When a man becomes cultivated, he develops a new respect for who he is. This causes him to be ashamed of his past identification…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/when-a-man-becomes-cultivated-he-develops-a-new-respect-for-who-he-is/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Between cultivated minds the first interview is the best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/between-cultivated-minds-the-first-interview-is-the-best/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Ah Fate, cannot a man Be wise without a beard? East, West, from Beer to Dan, Say, was it never heard That wisdom might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/ah-fate-cannot-a-man-be-wise-without-a-beard-east-west-from-beer-to/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“We must remember that in the end nature does not belong to us, we belong to it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grey-owl/we-must-remember-that-in-the-end-nature-does-not-belong-to-us-we/) [Grey Owl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grey-owl/) > [ “...\[N\]ature generally in the distribution of her capacities has adapted the means to the end... \[so nature's\] true destination must be to produce a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/n-ature-generally-in-the-distribution-of-her-capacities-has-adapted/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [The end of nature sours all my material pleasures. The prospect of living in a genetically engineered world sickens me. And yet it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-end-of-nature-sours-all-my-material-pleasures-the-prospect-of/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [I think the Native Americans had the right idea about preserving and respecting the earth. Not just using it up. We are not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lurie/i-think-the-native-americans-had-the-right-idea-about-preserving-and/) [John Lurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lurie/) > [No man should bring children into the world who is unwilling to persevere to the end in their nature and education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/no-man-should-bring-children-into-the-world-who-is-unwilling-to/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [ No mind, no form, I only exist; now ceased all will and thought; the final end of \[Nature\]\]'s dance, I am it whom I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-chinmoy/no-mind-no-form-i-only-exist-now-ceased-all-will-and-thought-the/) [Sri Chinmoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-chinmoy/) > [In the end, nature is inexorable: it has no reason to hurry and, sooner or later, it takes what belongs to it. Unconsciously and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/in-the-end-nature-is-inexorable-it-has-no-reason-to-hurry-and-sooner/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [“The End of Nature was the first book for a general audience about global warming; it came out in 1989 and soon appeared in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-end-of-nature-was-the-first-book-for-a-general-audience-about/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) ## 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/) [Explore all 4,802 Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## More Cultivated quotes > [Mine was, as it were, the connecting link between wild and cultivated fields; as some states are civilized, and others half-civilized, and others savage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/mine-was-as-it-were-the-connecting-link-between-wild-and-cultivated/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [America thrived in the 20th century because we made high school free. We sent a generation to college. We cultivated the most educated workforce…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/america-thrived-in-the-20th-century-because-we-made-high-school-free/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [My grandmother had six kids - one died as an infant - and she was dirt-poor, and all her kids got an education. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-alibar/my-grandmother-had-six-kids-one-died-as-an-infant-and-she-was-dirt/) [Lucy Alibar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-alibar/) > [It's not that I am not emotional, but I am extremely secure and curb it, as I am afraid to let go and be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ranbir-kapoor/it-s-not-that-i-am-not-emotional-but-i-am-extremely-secure-and-curb/) [Ranbir Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ranbir-kapoor/) > [That person is most cultivated who is able to put himself in the place of the greatest number of other persons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-addams/that-person-is-most-cultivated-who-is-able-to-put-himself-in-the/) [Jane Addams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-addams/) > [What is honored in a country will be cultivated there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/what-is-honored-in-a-country-will-be-cultivated-there/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [All good qualities must be sown and cultivated. We can’t expect to change overnight from an ordinary person into one with high realizations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/all-good-qualities-must-be-sown-and-cultivated-we-can-t-expect-to/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Cultivated mind is the guardian genius of democracy,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mirabeau-b-lamar/cultivated-mind-is-the-guardian-genius-of-democracy/) Mirabeau B. Lamar > [A cultivated style would be like a mask. Everybody knows it's a mask, and sooner or later you must show yourself -- or at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/a-cultivated-style-would-be-like-a-mask-everybody-knows-it-s-a-mask/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [Fashion was in a crisis up until the mid-'90s and, when it came out of the crisis, it was a very different place. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-gunn/fashion-was-in-a-crisis-up-until-the-mid-90s-and-when-it-came-out-of/) [Tim Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-gunn/) > [On some level, acting is the art of pretend, and you have to have a highly cultivated sense of imagination. You have to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-lang/on-some-level-acting-is-the-art-of-pretend-and-you-have-to-have-a/) [Stephen Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-lang/) > [Thanh Hoa itself is a rich agricultural province. Rice fields, a pattern of many shades of green, stretch far into the distance along the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/thanh-hoa-itself-is-a-rich-agricultural-province-rice-fields-a/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Everybody's got plants, but most are just growing weeds. The cultivated have greater gardens, finer and gaudier gardens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/everybody-s-got-plants-but-most-are-just-growing-weeds-the-cultivated/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [The few things that work fantastically well should be identified, cultivated, nurtured, and multiplied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-koch/the-few-things-that-work-fantastically-well-should-be-identified/) [Richard Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-koch/) > [Whether you are a genius or an idiot, a thief or, like me, a Zen priest who has cultivated the mind for 30 years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoketsu-norman-fischer/whether-you-are-a-genius-or-an-idiot-a-thief-or-like-me-a-zen-priest/) [Zoketsu Norman Fischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoketsu-norman-fischer/) Browse all 67 Cultivated quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A cultivated man, wise to know and bold to perform, is the end to which nature works.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ralph Waldo Emerson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-cultivated-man-wise-to-know-and-bold-to-perform-is-the-end-to-which/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cultivated" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-cultivated-man-wise-to-know-and-bold-to-perform-is-the-end-to-which/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21d/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_cultivated_a-cultivated-man-wise-to-know-and-bold-t_3018144.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21d/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_cultivated_a-cultivated-man-wise-to-know-and-bold-t_3018144.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21d/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_cultivated_a-cultivated-man-wise-to-know-and-bold-t_3018144.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A cultivated man, wise to know and bold to perform, is the end to which nature works.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson", "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": "Ralph Waldo Emerson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A cultivated man, wise to know...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-cultivated-man-wise-to-know-and-bold-to-perform-is-the-end-to-which/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-cultivated-man-wise-to-know-and-bold-to-perform-is-the-end-to-which/#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 } } ] } ```