--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All substances the cunning chemist Time…" description: "\"All substances the cunning chemist Time Melts down into that liquor of my life.\" — Ralph Waldo Emerson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_chemist_all-substances-the-cunning-chemist-time_1692693.png" --- # All substances the cunning chemist Time Melts down into… ![“All substances the cunning chemist Time Melts down into that liquor of my life.” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_chemist_all-substances-the-cunning-chemist-time_1692693.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_chemist_all-substances-the-cunning-chemist-time_1692693.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_chemist_all-substances-the-cunning-chemist-time_1692693.png) > “All substances the cunning chemist Time Melts down into that liquor of my life.” [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 chemist transforms substances into a metaphorical "liquor" that fuels the speaker's life. **In simple terms:** Chemistry creates a life‑fueling essence. Key Takeaway Recognize the transformative power of knowledge. Themes science metaphor life energy Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical creative When to use this quote - research - creative writing - teaching - self‑reflection Key Concepts alchemy personal growth Questions to Reflect On - What "liquor" fuels your life? - How does transformation inspire you? A Different Perspective Metaphor may obscure practical meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life & time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-time-2/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine/) ## Related quotes > [To finish the moment, to find the journey's end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/to-finish-the-moment-to-find-the-journey-s-end-in-every-step-of-the-2/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [We must be very suspicious of the deceptions of the element of time. It takes a good deal of time to eat or to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/we-must-be-very-suspicious-of-the-deceptions-of-the-element-of-time/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Nature is a rag-merchant, who works up every shred and ort and end into new creations; like a good chemist, whom I found, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/nature-is-a-rag-merchant-who-works-up-every-shred-and-ort-and-end/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Too often we become so consumed with how we spend our days that we lose track of how we are spending our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-warner/too-often-we-become-so-consumed-with-how-we-spend-our-days-that-we/) Sally Warner > [A man and a woman are new to one another throughout a life-time, in the rhythm of marriage that matches the rhythm of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-and-a-woman-are-new-to-one-another-throughout-a-life-time-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To be put down in this world, and given only eighty years to get to know it in, is like being let loose in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-struther/to-be-put-down-in-this-world-and-given-only-eighty-years-to-get-to/) [Jan Struther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-struther/) > [In a funny way, acting, to me, is all make-believe, even if the film has unicorns in it or is a normal movie that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elle-fanning/in-a-funny-way-acting-to-me-is-all-make-believe-even-if-the-film-has/) [Elle Fanning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elle-fanning/) > [Time doth run with calm and silent foot, Shortening my days and thread of vital life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-marlowe/time-doth-run-with-calm-and-silent-foot-shortening-my-days-and-thread/) [Christopher Marlowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-marlowe/) > [I've lived in a preindustrial (rural Argentina) as well as an industrial world. You experience a different sense of time in a community that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shoshana-zuboff/i-ve-lived-in-a-preindustrial-rural-argentina-as-well-as-an/) [Shoshana Zuboff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shoshana-zuboff/) > [Sometimes I feel that life is passing me by, not slowly either, but with ropes of steam and spark - spattered wheels and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/sometimes-i-feel-that-life-is-passing-me-by-not-slowly-either-but/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [I resolve to live with all my might while I do live. I resolve never to lose one moment of time and to improve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-edwards/i-resolve-to-live-with-all-my-might-while-i-do-live-i-resolve-never/) [Jonathan Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-edwards/) > [I would willingly stand at street corners, hat in hand, begging passerby to drop their unused minutes into it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-berenson/i-would-willingly-stand-at-street-corners-hat-in-hand-begging/) [Bernard Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-berenson/) > [They say when you meet the love of your life, time stops, and that's true. What they don't tell you is that when it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-wallace/they-say-when-you-meet-the-love-of-your-life-time-stops-and-that-s/) [Daniel Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-wallace/) > [Fella’s a genius. Best ever by a distance in my life time. Never really saw Pele… Souness, Gullit, Venables and now Rooney agree Messi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-lineker/fella-s-a-genius-best-ever-by-a-distance-in-my-life-time-never-really/) [Gary Lineker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-lineker/) > [A man must commit a crime at least once in his life-time. Only then will his virtue be recognized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/girish-karnad/a-man-must-commit-a-crime-at-least-once-in-his-life-time-only-then/) Girish Karnad ## 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 Chemist quotes > [When people are suicidal, their thinking is paralyzed, their options appear spare or nonexistent, their mood is despairing, and hopelessness permeates their entire mental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/when-people-are-suicidal-their-thinking-is-paralyzed-their-options/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [As a chemist, I wanted to ask myself the question frustrated by biology: What is the minimal unit of matter that can undergo Darwinian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-cronin/as-a-chemist-i-wanted-to-ask-myself-the-question-frustrated-by/) Leroy Cronin > [I'm about to become a member of the Chemists Society of America. I'm very proud of that](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-principal/i-m-about-to-become-a-member-of-the-chemists-society-of-america-i-m/) [Victoria Principal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-principal/) > [The fact is the physical chemists never use their eyes and are most lamentably lacking in chemical culture. It is essential to cast out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-edward-armstrong/the-fact-is-the-physical-chemists-never-use-their-eyes-and-are-most/) [Henry Edward Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-edward-armstrong/) > [Mendeleev, unlike the squeamish Meyer, had balls enough to predict that new elements would be dug up. Look harder, you chemists and geologists, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-kean/mendeleev-unlike-the-squeamish-meyer-had-balls-enough-to-predict-that/) [Sam Kean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-kean/) > [I trained initially as a physical chemist, and then, after becoming interested in biology, I went to medical school and learned how to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-collins/i-trained-initially-as-a-physical-chemist-and-then-after-becoming/) [Francis Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-collins/) > [I assume the same problem exists in Australia as in America of back-biting and jealousy and parochialism among disciplines - there are the scientists,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-lewontin/i-assume-the-same-problem-exists-in-australia-as-in-america-of-back/) [Richard Lewontin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-lewontin/) > [This is alchemy, and this is the office of Vulcan; he is the apothecary and chemist of the medicine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paracelsus/this-is-alchemy-and-this-is-the-office-of-vulcan-he-is-the-apothecary/) [Paracelsus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paracelsus/) > [“The chemists are a strange class of mortals, impelled by an almost insane impulse to seek their pleasures amid smoke and vapour, soot and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-joachim-becher/the-chemists-are-a-strange-class-of-mortals-impelled-by-an-almost/) Johann Joachim Becher > [“A man would make but a very sorry chemist if he attended to that department of human knowledge alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-shelley/a-man-would-make-but-a-very-sorry-chemist-if-he-attended-to-that/) [Mary Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-shelley/) > [The chemists work with inaccurate and poor measuring services, but they employ very good materials. The physicists, on the other hand, use excellent methods…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-ostwald/the-chemists-work-with-inaccurate-and-poor-measuring-services-but/) [Wolfgang Ostwald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-ostwald/) > [From early childhood, I was interested in understanding how the world worked, and assumed I would be some kind of physical scientist or chemist.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-laberge/from-early-childhood-i-was-interested-in-understanding-how-the-world/) [Stephen LaBerge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-laberge/) > [There are chemists who spend their whole lives trying to find out what's in a lump of sugar. I want to know one thing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/there-are-chemists-who-spend-their-whole-lives-trying-to-find-out/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Whereas the chemico-chemists always find in industry a beautiful field of gold-laden soil, the physico-chemists stand somewhat farther off, especially those who seek only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacobus-henricus-van-t-hoff/whereas-the-chemico-chemists-always-find-in-industry-a-beautiful/) Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff > [Many will, no doubt, prefer to retain old unsystematic names as far as possible, but it is easy to see that the desire to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-edward-armstrong/many-will-no-doubt-prefer-to-retain-old-unsystematic-names-as-far-as/) [Henry Edward Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-edward-armstrong/) Browse all 180 Chemist quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "All substances the cunning chemist Time Melts down into that liquor of my life.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ralph Waldo Emerson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/all-substances-the-cunning-chemist-time-melts-down-into-that-liquor/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Chemist" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/all-substances-the-cunning-chemist-time-melts-down-into-that-liquor/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_chemist_all-substances-the-cunning-chemist-time_1692693.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_chemist_all-substances-the-cunning-chemist-time_1692693.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_chemist_all-substances-the-cunning-chemist-time_1692693.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“All substances the cunning chemist Time Melts down into that liquor of my life.” — 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 substances the cunning chemist Time...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/all-substances-the-cunning-chemist-time-melts-down-into-that-liquor/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/all-substances-the-cunning-chemist-time-melts-down-into-that-liquor/#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 } } ] } ```