--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Give the slave the least elevation of…" description: "\"Give the slave the least elevation of religious sentiment, and he is not slave: you are the slave: he not only in his humility feels his superiority, f..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd6/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_conditions_give-the-slave-the-least-elevation-of-re_809863.png" --- # Give the slave the least elevation of religious sentiment… ![“Give the slave the least elevation of religious sentiment, and he is not slave: you are the slave: he not only in his humility feels his superiority, feels that much deplored condition of his to be a fading trifle, but he makes you feel it too. He is the master.” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd6/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_conditions_give-the-slave-the-least-elevation-of-re_809863.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd6/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_conditions_give-the-slave-the-least-elevation-of-re_809863.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd6/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_conditions_give-the-slave-the-least-elevation-of-re_809863.png) > “Give the slave the least elevation of religious sentiment, and he is not slave: you are the slave: he not only in his humility feels his superiority, feels that much deplored condition of his to be a fading trifle, but he makes you feel it too. He is the master.” [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. Even those who appear humble may dominate others; true freedom comes from inner humility, not external status. **In simple terms:** Humility can mask control; true freedom is internal. Key Takeaway Cultivate inner humility, not outward submission. Themes power dynamics humility self-reliance Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - leadership - personal growth - social movements Key Concepts philosophy social hierarchy psychology Questions to Reflect On - What does true freedom look like for you? - How can humility be both strength and trap? A Different Perspective May overlook systemic oppression; not all humility is deceptive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Elevation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elevation/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Humility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humility/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious/) [Sentiments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sentiments/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Slavery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slavery/) [Trifles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trifles/) ## Related quotes > [Humility feels that there is someone, somewhere who can do anything I can do better - except one thing: no one can be better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/humility-feels-that-there-is-someone-somewhere-who-can-do-anything-i/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“I've never been good with asking for help; it seems risky, but at some point when things are really dicey, your stubbornness gives way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-williams/i-ve-never-been-good-with-asking-for-help-it-seems-risky-but-at-some/) [Dee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-williams/) > [Science always goes abreast with the just elevation of the man, keeping step with religion and metaphysics; or, the state of science is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/science-always-goes-abreast-with-the-just-elevation-of-the-man/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [But your isolation must not be mechanical, but spiritual, that is, must be elevation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/but-your-isolation-must-not-be-mechanical-but-spiritual-that-is-must/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“It is the story of society's purchase of a slave. A slave purchased from poverty, hunger, cold, loneliness, defenselessness, destitution. A squalid bargain: human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/it-is-the-story-of-society-s-purchase-of-a-slave-a-slave-purchased/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“If the mind, which rules the body, ever forgets itself so far as to trample upon its slave, the slave is never generous enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/if-the-mind-which-rules-the-body-ever-forgets-itself-so-far-as-to/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [When the master has come to do everything through the slave, the slave becomes his master, since he cannot live without him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/when-the-master-has-come-to-do-everything-through-the-slave-the-slave/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [I am the descendant of slaves, of people that were born from a slave and a slave master.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cory-booker/i-am-the-descendant-of-slaves-of-people-that-were-born-from-a-slave/) [Cory Booker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cory-booker/) > [“No slave is a slave to the same lengths, and in so full a sense of the word, as a wife is . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carole-pateman/no-slave-is-a-slave-to-the-same-lengths-and-in-so-full-a-sense-of-the/) [Carole Pateman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carole-pateman/) > [“He didn't use me like an object, because a thing didn't need to be mastered. 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Because I know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/only-when-the-mind-is-free-has-the-body-a-chance-to-be-free-yes-they/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If the mind, that rules the body, ever so far forgets itself as to trample on its slave, the slave is never generous enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/if-the-mind-that-rules-the-body-ever-so-far-forgets-itself-as-to/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [“If I am not master of my life, not sultan of my own being, then no man's logic and no man's ecstatic fits may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/if-i-am-not-master-of-my-life-not-sultan-of-my-own-being-then-no-man/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [Let me state here and now that the black woman in America can justly be described as a 'slave of a slave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-m-beal/let-me-state-here-and-now-that-the-black-woman-in-america-can-justly/) Frances M. Beal ## 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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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. 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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 Conditions quotes > [One can put some trust in the gratitude of a sovereign, and also in that of his family; under certain conditions, one can even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-von-bismarck/one-can-put-some-trust-in-the-gratitude-of-a-sovereign-and-also-in/) [Otto von Bismarck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-von-bismarck/) > [Most celebrated men live in a condition of prostitution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/most-celebrated-men-live-in-a-condition-of-prostitution/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. 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