--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All my best thoughts were stolen by the…" description: "\"All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients.\" — Ralph Waldo Emerson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe7/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_ancients_all-my-best-thoughts-were-stolen-by-the_1726863.png" --- # All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients. ![“All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients.” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe7/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_ancients_all-my-best-thoughts-were-stolen-by-the_1726863.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe7/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_ancients_all-my-best-thoughts-were-stolen-by-the_1726863.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe7/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_ancients_all-my-best-thoughts-were-stolen-by-the_1726863.png) > “All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients.” [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. The speaker feels that ancient ideas have appropriated their original thoughts, highlighting the tension between originality and cultural inheritance. **In simple terms:** Ideas feel borrowed from the past. Key Takeaway Cultivate personal originality. Themes originality history intellectual property Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - academic research - creative work Key Concepts philosophy cultural transmission Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance influence with originality? - What constitutes “stealing” ideas? A Different Perspective Originality is built on past ideas. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancients](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancients/) [Originality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/originality/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Our best thoughts come from others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/our-best-thoughts-come-from-others/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Others can get in your way temporarily, but only you can get out of your way permanently. Our best thoughts come from others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/others-can-get-in-your-way-temporarily-but-only-you-can-get-out-of/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [It seems to me self-evident that it is worthwhile to understand the best thoughts of the past, to appropriate them, to criticize them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-w-wood/it-seems-to-me-self-evident-that-it-is-worthwhile-to-understand-the/) [Allen W. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-w-wood/) > [How very seldom do you encounter in the world a man of great abilities, acquirements, experience, who will unmask his mind, unbutton his brains,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/how-very-seldom-do-you-encounter-in-the-world-a-man-of-great/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [I like the idea of the states to go out and the states to take fifty laboratories of the best thoughts and create best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-blaha/i-like-the-idea-of-the-states-to-go-out-and-the-states-to-take-fifty/) [Robert Blaha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-blaha/) > [The best thoughts most often come in the morning after waking, while still in bed or while walking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-best-thoughts-most-often-come-in-the-morning-after-waking-while/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Make your best thoughts into action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-curchod/make-your-best-thoughts-into-action/) [Suzanne Curchod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-curchod/) > [I always have my best thoughts on the toilet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-day/i-always-have-my-best-thoughts-on-the-toilet/) [Charlie Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-day/) > [I always have my best thoughts on the toilet, so thats where that sage wisdom was coming from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-day/i-always-have-my-best-thoughts-on-the-toilet-so-thats-where-that-sage/) [Charlie Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-day/) > [The human race is guided by its own ideas, and only by its ideas. 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When you are not involved in the emotional, entangled in the sentimental, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alok-mishra/solitude-has-the-potential-to-bring-the-best-thoughts-to-you-when-you/) [Alok Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alok-mishra/) > [“Oblivion is the place where all my best thoughts reside or I must say hide.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shreya-gupta/oblivion-is-the-place-where-all-my-best-thoughts-reside-or-i-must-say/) [Shreya Gupta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shreya-gupta/) > [How utterly are one's best thoughts invaded by this going out in society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-ward-howe/how-utterly-are-one-s-best-thoughts-invaded-by-this-going-out-in/) [Julia Ward Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-ward-howe/) > [The greatest events of an age are its best thoughts. Thought finds its way into action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/the-greatest-events-of-an-age-are-its-best-thoughts-thought-finds-its/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [“With best thoughts, words and actions we align our past, present and future.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-dallas-jr/with-best-thoughts-words-and-actions-we-align-our-past-present-and/) [John R. Dallas Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-dallas-jr/) ## 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 Ancients quotes > [“Et peut-être la posterité me saura gré de lui avoir fait connaître que les Anciens n’ont pas tout su. ( And perhaps, posterity will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-de-fermat/et-peut-tre-la-posterit-me-saura-gr-de-lui-avoir-fait-conna-tre-que/) [Pierre De Fermat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-de-fermat/) > [And perhaps, posterity will thank me for having shown that the ancients did not know everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-de-fermat/and-perhaps-posterity-will-thank-me-for-having-shown-that-the/) [Pierre de Fermat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-de-fermat/) > [The ancients understood the regulation of power better than the regulation of liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/the-ancients-understood-the-regulation-of-power-better-than-the/) [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) > [The ancients said: Hulk to be whole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-ancients-said-hulk-to-be-whole/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [“One makes a great error if one believes there are 'ancients.' Only now is antiquity starting to arise. It arises in the eyes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/novalis/one-makes-a-great-error-if-one-believes-there-are-ancients-only-now/) [Novalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/novalis/) > [“Certainly it's a rare glimpse into the lives of the Secular Ancients. They don't seem as bad as the Dominion histories make them out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-charles-wilson/certainly-it-s-a-rare-glimpse-into-the-lives-of-the-secular-ancients/) [Robert Charles Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-charles-wilson/) > [“That is to say, when the ancients experienced gaps in their understanding of the world around them, they filled those gaps with God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/that-is-to-say-when-the-ancients-experienced-gaps-in-their/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [I am not one who was born in the custody of wisdom; I am one who is fond of olden times and intense in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-courbet/i-am-not-one-who-was-born-in-the-custody-of-wisdom-i-am-one-who-is/) [Gustave Courbet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-courbet/) > [Why must ancients, and provided the same talent, be better than modern authors? Free to exploit the vast realm of the simpleand the natural,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-grillparzer/why-must-ancients-and-provided-the-same-talent-be-better-than-modern/) [Franz Grillparzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-grillparzer/) > [The ancients had a term in the mystical tradition called the Akashic Records, which was suggestive that nature didn't lose it's experience, that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/the-ancients-had-a-term-in-the-mystical-tradition-called-the-akashic/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [Some are so very studious of learning what was done by the ancients that they know not how to live with the moderns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-penn/some-are-so-very-studious-of-learning-what-was-done-by-the-ancients/) [William Penn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-penn/) > [We could learn a lot from the ancients, and we should go back there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-stone/we-could-learn-a-lot-from-the-ancients-and-we-should-go-back-there/) [Oliver Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-stone/) > [The finest and most beautiful ideas on morals and manners have been swept away before our times, and nothing is left for us but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/the-finest-and-most-beautiful-ideas-on-morals-and-manners-have-been/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [Nothing truly convincing - which would possess thoroughness, vigor, and skill - has been written against the ancients as yet; especially not against their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/nothing-truly-convincing-which-would-possess-thoroughness-vigor-and/) [Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-wilhelm-friedrich-schlegel/) > [By comparing what we know today with what the ancients appear to have known we can guess at the kinds of wine they drank.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alec-waugh/by-comparing-what-we-know-today-with-what-the-ancients-appear-to-have/) [Alec Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alec-waugh/) [Browse all 73 Ancients quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancients/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ralph Waldo Emerson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/all-my-best-thoughts-were-stolen-by-the-ancients/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ancients" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/all-my-best-thoughts-were-stolen-by-the-ancients/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe7/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_ancients_all-my-best-thoughts-were-stolen-by-the_1726863.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe7/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_ancients_all-my-best-thoughts-were-stolen-by-the_1726863.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe7/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_ancients_all-my-best-thoughts-were-stolen-by-the_1726863.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients.” — 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": "All my best thoughts were stolen...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/all-my-best-thoughts-were-stolen-by-the-ancients/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/all-my-best-thoughts-were-stolen-by-the-ancients/#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 } } ] } ```