--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A man becomes what he thinks about most…" description: "\"A man becomes what he thinks about most of the time\" — Ralph Waldo Emerson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_greatness_a-man-becomes-what-he-thinks-about-most_2417387.png" --- # A man becomes what he thinks about most of the time ![“A man becomes what he thinks about most of the time” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_greatness_a-man-becomes-what-he-thinks-about-most_2417387.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_greatness_a-man-becomes-what-he-thinks-about-most_2417387.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_greatness_a-man-becomes-what-he-thinks-about-most_2417387.png) > “A man becomes what he thinks about most of the time” [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. Our thoughts shape our identity; persistent thinking creates self‑fulfilling reality. **In simple terms:** Thinking determines who you become. Key Takeaway Monitor and steer your thoughts. Themes self‑development mindset identity Mood reflective motivational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - relationship building - career planning Key Concepts cognitive psychology self‑fulfilling prophecy Questions to Reflect On - What recurring thoughts define you? - How can you shift negative patterns? A Different Perspective Thoughts alone cannot change external circumstances without action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Man Thinks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-thinks/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thinks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinks/) [Thinks Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinks-time-699725/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“Man is whoever he thinks he is, within his own boundaries.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dudley-davidson-jarrett/man-is-whoever-he-thinks-he-is-within-his-own-boundaries/) [Dudley Davidson-Jarrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dudley-davidson-jarrett/) > [I'm a person that thinks time is very precious and our only commodity... 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Centuries later, he still thinks that time moves clockwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/for-centuries-man-believed-that-the-sun-revolves-around-the-earth/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [George W. Bush, judging by his repeated invocations, thinks that time will eventually prove that he was right. He is not alone in putting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-macmillan/george-w-bush-judging-by-his-repeated-invocations-thinks-that-time/) [Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/) > [It is not what a man knows, but what he thinks of in time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-not-what-a-man-knows-but-what-he-thinks-of-in-time/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The only time a man thinks is when he's alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-bergam-n/the-only-time-a-man-thinks-is-when-he-s-alone/) [Jose Bergamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-bergam-n/) > [“A character is made by the kind of thoughts a man thinks when alone, and a civilization is made by the kind of thoughts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/a-character-is-made-by-the-kind-of-thoughts-a-man-thinks-when-alone/) [Fulton J. 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And he wonders too if he were to die today,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brown/and-now-that-her-dream-has-spread-he-wonders-if-she-would-recognize/) [Pierce Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brown/) > [“Here's how man thinks: "If no one's done it, why should I try? It's a waste of my time; but if he's done it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nabil-n-jamal-2/here-s-how-man-thinks-if-no-one-s-done-it-why-should-i-try-it-s-a/) [Nabil N. Jamal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nabil-n-jamal-2/) > [“This is the man who thinks too much, who stands back from his life and never lives it. He is caught in a web…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-l-moore/this-is-the-man-who-thinks-too-much-who-stands-back-from-his-life-and/) [Robert L. Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-l-moore/) ## 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 Greatness quotes > [The man who can master his time can master nearly anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-man-who-can-master-his-time-can-master-nearly-anything/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Every man who is high up likes to think that he has done it all himself, and the wife smiles and lets it go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-man-who-is-high-up-likes-to-think-that-he-has-done-it-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straghtforward men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/what-we-shall-need-is-not-geniuses-or-cynics-or-misanthropes-or/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“You are destiny for greatness. Your future is in the hands of the Lord.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/you-are-destiny-for-greatness-your-future-is-in-the-hands-of-the-lord/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/we-need-to-discover-all-over-again-that-worship-is-natural-to-the/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office-seeking. Men of good character and impulses are betrayed by it into all sorts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/nothing-brings-out-the-lower-traits-of-human-nature-like-office/) [Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/) > [Men generally decide upon a middle course, which is most hazardous, for they know neither how to be entirely good nor entirely bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/men-generally-decide-upon-a-middle-course-which-is-most-hazardous-for/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Every man remembers his childhood as a kind of mythical age, just as every nation's childhood is its mythical age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-leopardi/every-man-remembers-his-childhood-as-a-kind-of-mythical-age-just-as/) [Giacomo Leopardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-leopardi/) > [Greatness is not guarding yourself from people. Greatness is being accepted by the people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/greatness-is-not-guarding-yourself-from-people-greatness-is-being/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [The superior man is distressed by his want (lack) of ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/the-superior-man-is-distressed-by-his-want-lack-of-ability/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Great men don't 'move to the center' - great men move the center!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/great-men-don-t-move-to-the-center-great-men-move-the-center/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Perfection is the enemy of greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/perfection-is-the-enemy-of-greatness/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [Men want a challenge, but they want a challenge they can win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-gaskell/men-want-a-challenge-but-they-want-a-challenge-they-can-win/) [Whitney Gaskell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-gaskell/) [Browse all 7,631 Greatness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A man becomes what he thinks about most of the time", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ralph Waldo Emerson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-becomes-what-he-thinks-about-most-of-the-time/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Greatness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-becomes-what-he-thinks-about-most-of-the-time/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_greatness_a-man-becomes-what-he-thinks-about-most_2417387.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_greatness_a-man-becomes-what-he-thinks-about-most_2417387.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad5/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_greatness_a-man-becomes-what-he-thinks-about-most_2417387.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A man becomes what he thinks about most of the time” — 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 man becomes what he thinks...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-becomes-what-he-thinks-about-most-of-the-time/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-becomes-what-he-thinks-about-most-of-the-time/#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 } } ] } ```