--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But wise men pierce this rotten diction…" description: "\"But wise men pierce this rotten diction and fasten words again to visible things; so that picturesque language is at once a commanding certificate that..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c89/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_alliances_but-wise-men-pierce-this-rotten-diction_388597.png" --- # But wise men pierce this rotten diction and fasten words… ![“But wise men pierce this rotten diction and fasten words again to visible things; so that picturesque language is at once a commanding certificate that he who employs it, is a man in alliance with truth and God.” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c89/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_alliances_but-wise-men-pierce-this-rotten-diction_388597.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c89/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_alliances_but-wise-men-pierce-this-rotten-diction_388597.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c89/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_alliances_but-wise-men-pierce-this-rotten-diction_388597.png) > “But wise men pierce this rotten diction and fasten words again to visible things; so that picturesque language is at once a commanding certificate that he who employs it, is a man in alliance with truth and God.” [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. Language can reveal truth when it connects words to tangible reality, aligning speaker with honesty and the divine. **In simple terms:** Clear language ties words to reality, showing truth and moral alignment. Key Takeaway Use precise, grounded language. Themes truth language spirituality integrity Mood inspirational thoughtful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - public speaking - writing - teaching - debate - art criticism Key Concepts philosophy ethics communication Questions to Reflect On - What words best capture your deepest convictions? - How does language shape your sense of truth? A Different Perspective Complex ideas may resist simple phrasing, risking oversimplification. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alliances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alliances/) [Diction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diction/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) [Wise men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise-men/) ## Related quotes > [“Mathilde returned and strolled past the drawing-room windows; she saw him busily engaged in describing to Madame de Fervaques the old ruined castles that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/mathilde-returned-and-strolled-past-the-drawing-room-windows-she-saw/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [“Most of the time, because of their failure to fasten on to words, my thoughts remain misty and nebulous. They assume vague, amusing shapes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/most-of-the-time-because-of-their-failure-to-fasten-on-to-words-my/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [Art is a wholly physical language whose words are all the visible objects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-courbet/art-is-a-wholly-physical-language-whose-words-are-all-the-visible/) [Gustave Courbet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-courbet/) > [I'm very much a word person, so that's why typography for me is the obvious extension. It just makes my words visible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-spiekermann/i-m-very-much-a-word-person-so-that-s-why-typography-for-me-is-the/) [Erik Spiekermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-spiekermann/) > [Pictures must not be too picturesque.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/pictures-must-not-be-too-picturesque/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I now require this of all pictures, that they domesticate me, not that they dazzle me. Pictures must not be too picturesque. Nothing astonishes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-now-require-this-of-all-pictures-that-they-domesticate-me-not-that/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Apostolic preaching is not marked by its beautiful diction, or literary polish, or Cleverness of expression, but Operates “in demonstration of the Spirit and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-wallis/apostolic-preaching-is-not-marked-by-its-beautiful-diction-or/) [Arthur Wallis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-wallis/) > [Many of the finest and most interesting emotions perish forever, because too complex and fugitive for expression. Of all things relating to man, his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-benton-clulow/many-of-the-finest-and-most-interesting-emotions-perish-forever/) [William Benton Clulow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-benton-clulow/) > [I think your conversations are indicative of your tastes - even your diction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel/i-think-your-conversations-are-indicative-of-your-tastes-even-your/) [Miguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel/) > [How can one talk in a classical language about a child who's torn apart in an explosion in the market near his school? People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hassan-blasim/how-can-one-talk-in-a-classical-language-about-a-child-who-s-torn/) [Hassan Blasim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hassan-blasim/) > [Jen and I were accustomed to our father's last-will-and-testament diction, and were at times free to interrupt Atticus for a translation when it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-lee/jen-and-i-were-accustomed-to-our-father-s-last-will-and-testament/) [Harper Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harper-lee/) > [When I was writing 'You Suck,' in 2006, I constructed the diction of the book's narrator, perky Goth girl Abby Normal, from what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-moore/when-i-was-writing-you-suck-in-2006-i-constructed-the-diction-of-the/) [Christopher Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-moore/) > [“Then let us have a language worthy of our world, a democratic style where rich and well-born nouns can roister with some sluttish verb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/then-let-us-have-a-language-worthy-of-our-world-a-democratic-style/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [I still have perfect diction!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aretha-franklin/i-still-have-perfect-diction/) [Aretha Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aretha-franklin/) > [Enunciation, diction, all that stuff. None of that is in my personality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaquille-o-neal/enunciation-diction-all-that-stuff-none-of-that-is-in-my-personality/) [Shaquille O'Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaquille-o-neal/) ## 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. 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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 Alliances quotes > [ \[U\]nless oppressed groups stick together, and on alliances of self interest rather than do-goodism; nothing can be accomplished in the long run to dismantle… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/u-nless-oppressed-groups-stick-together-and-on-alliances-of-self/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [Men since the beginning of time have sought peace...military alliances, balances of power, leagues of nations, all in turn have failed, leaving the only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-macarthur/men-since-the-beginning-of-time-have-sought-peace-military-alliances/) [Douglas MacArthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-macarthur/) > [The U.S. always needs an enemy. It comes and goes. Today it is Islam. According to this plan or ideology of the born-again Christians…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walid-jumblatt/the-u-s-always-needs-an-enemy-it-comes-and-goes-today-it-is-islam/) [Walid Jumblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walid-jumblatt/) > [I would be quite happy to see the Northern Alliance steam across northern Afghanistan and take Kabul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoff-hoon/i-would-be-quite-happy-to-see-the-northern-alliance-steam-across/) [Geoff Hoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoff-hoon/) > [We are very wrong to think that some fault or other can exclude virtue, or to consider the alliance of good and evil as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-de-clapiers/we-are-very-wrong-to-think-that-some-fault-or-other-can-exclude/) [Luc de Clapiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-de-clapiers/) > [Love and friendship, two of life's abiding rewards, are endangered species in Hollywood. People crave both, mistaking alliance for friendship, lust for love, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-obst/love-and-friendship-two-of-life-s-abiding-rewards-are-endangered/) [Lynda Obst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-obst/) > [...to befoul the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/to-befoul-the-unholy-alliance-between-corrupt-business-and-corrupt/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [I prayed for the first time in a very long time today. I explained to God that unless he wanted the Marxist-Islamic alliance and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anders-behring-breivik/i-prayed-for-the-first-time-in-a-very-long-time-today-i-explained-to/) Anders Behring Breivik > [You cannot lead an alliance if you say you're going alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/you-cannot-lead-an-alliance-if-you-say-you-re-going-alone/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [An alliance is like a chain. It is not made stronger by adding weak links to it. A great power like the United States…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/an-alliance-is-like-a-chain-it-is-not-made-stronger-by-adding-weak/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. 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And the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-hawke/i-told-david-lange-he-was-crazy-because-you-can-t-have-an-alliance/) [Bob Hawke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-hawke/) [Browse all 389 Alliances quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alliances/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But wise men pierce this rotten diction and fasten words again to visible things; so that picturesque language is at once a commanding certificate that he who employs it, is a man in alliance with truth and God.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ralph Waldo Emerson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/but-wise-men-pierce-this-rotten-diction-and-fasten-words-again-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Alliances" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/but-wise-men-pierce-this-rotten-diction-and-fasten-words-again-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c89/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_alliances_but-wise-men-pierce-this-rotten-diction_388597.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c89/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_alliances_but-wise-men-pierce-this-rotten-diction_388597.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c89/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_alliances_but-wise-men-pierce-this-rotten-diction_388597.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But wise men pierce this rotten diction and fasten words again to visible things; so that picturesque…” — 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": "But wise men pierce this rotten...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/but-wise-men-pierce-this-rotten-diction-and-fasten-words-again-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/but-wise-men-pierce-this-rotten-diction-and-fasten-words-again-to/#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 } } ] } ```