--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every really able man, in whatever…" description: "\"Every really able man, in whatever direction he works - a man of large affairs, an inventor, a statesman, an orator, a poet, a painter - if you talk si..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f75/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_able_every-really-able-man-in-whatever-direct_2601337.png" --- # Every really able man, in whatever direction he works - a… ![“Every really able man, in whatever direction he works - a man of large affairs, an inventor, a statesman, an orator, a poet, a painter - if you talk sincerely with him, considers his work, however much admired, as far short of what it should be. What is this Better, this flying Ideal, but the…” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f75/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_able_every-really-able-man-in-whatever-direct_2601337.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f75/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_able_every-really-able-man-in-whatever-direct_2601337.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f75/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_able_every-really-able-man-in-whatever-direct_2601337.png) > “Every really able man, in whatever direction he works - a man of large affairs, an inventor, a statesman, an orator, a poet, a painter - if you talk sincerely with him, considers his work, however much admired, as far short of what it should be. What is this Better, this flying Ideal, but the perpetual promise of his Creator?” [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. Critiques superficial achievements, urging deeper purpose beyond worldly success. **In simple terms:** Seek deeper purpose beyond fame. Key Takeaway Pursue meaningful work. Themes philosophy purpose authenticity Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career planning - artistic creation - spiritual practice Key Concepts Existentialism self‑actualization Questions to Reflect On - What defines true success for you? - How can you align work with purpose? A Different Perspective May dismiss practical achievements. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) [Affair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affair/) [Affairs Inventor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affairs-inventor-1946870/) [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Creator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creator/) [Flying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flying/) [Ideals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideals/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Inspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration/) [Inventor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventor/) [Inventor Statesman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventor-statesman-1946869/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Orators](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orators/) [Painter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painter/) [Perpetual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perpetual/) [Perpetual Promise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perpetual-promise-1946868/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Promise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promise/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Sincerely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sincerely/) [Statesman Orator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/statesman-orator-1946871/) [Statesmen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/statesmen/) [Work Admired](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-admired-1946867/) ## Related quotes > [For me, it's not like I am going to look at the money the director's film has made before their film... 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Hymowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-s-hymowitz/) > [No orator can top the one who can give good nicknames.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/no-orator-can-top-the-one-who-can-give-good-nicknames/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Plato says that the punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government, is, to live under the government of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/plato-says-that-the-punishment-which-the-wise-suffer-who-refuse-to/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The orator is thereby an orator that keeps his feet ever on a fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-orator-is-thereby-an-orator-that-keeps-his-feet-ever-on-a-fact/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [There is no true orator who is not a hero.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-no-true-orator-who-is-not-a-hero/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Our people are slow to learn the wisdom of sending character instead of talent to Congress. Again and again they have sent a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/our-people-are-slow-to-learn-the-wisdom-of-sending-character-instead/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [An orator or author is never successful till he has learned to make his words smaller than his ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/an-orator-or-author-is-never-successful-till-he-has-learned-to-make/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Hume's doctrine was that the circumstances vary, the amount of happiness does not; that the beggar cracking fleas in the sunshine under a hedge,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/hume-s-doctrine-was-that-the-circumstances-vary-the-amount-of/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The key to the age may be this, or that, or the other, as the young orators describe; the key to all ages is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-key-to-the-age-may-be-this-or-that-or-the-other-as-the-young/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [All the great speakers were bad speakers at first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/all-the-great-speakers-were-bad-speakers-at-first/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Perhaps it is the lowest of the qualities of an orator, but it is, on so many occasions, of chief importance,--a certain robust and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/perhaps-it-is-the-lowest-of-the-qualities-of-an-orator-but-it-is-on/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Preachers are stewards whom the Lord has ‘set over his household servants to provide them with food at the proper time.’ After all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-farrar-capon/preachers-are-stewards-whom-the-lord-has-set-over-his-household/) [Robert Farrar Capon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-farrar-capon/) > [There are prating coxcombs in the world who would rather talk than listen, although Shakespeare himself were the orator, and human nature the theme!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/there-are-prating-coxcombs-in-the-world-who-would-rather-talk-than/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) ## 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 Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [In the '80s, the way radio was programmed, if you didn't have a hit record you weren't going to be able to make any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huey-lewis/in-the-80s-the-way-radio-was-programmed-if-you-didn-t-have-a-hit/) [Huey Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huey-lewis/) > [I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pee-wee-reese/thinking-about-the-things-that-happened-i-don-t-know-any-other-ball/) [Pee Wee Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pee-wee-reese/) > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) [Greg Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-perry/) > [I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-don-t-know-if-i-would-qualify-as-mainstream-i-think-i-have-managed/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. 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This was why Kiki…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-look-fine-right-i-look-fine-except-i-don-t-said-zora-tugging/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [There is a way to be a woman, ask for what we deserve and be able to negotiate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracee-ellis-ross/there-is-a-way-to-be-a-woman-ask-for-what-we-deserve-and-be-able-to/) [Tracee Ellis Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracee-ellis-ross/) [Browse all 17,257 Able quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Every really able man, in whatever direction he works - a man of large affairs, an inventor, a statesman, an orator, a poet, a painter - if you talk sincerely with him, considers his work, however much admired, as far short of what it should be. 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