--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is not often the worst trait that…" description: "\"“It is not often the worst trait that occasions the loudest outcry. Men complain of their suffering and not of the crime.”\" — Ralph Waldo Emerson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_greatness_it-is-not-often-the-worst-trait-that-occ_555384.png" --- # It is not often the worst trait that occasions the loudest… ![“It is not often the worst trait that occasions the loudest outcry. Men complain of their suffering and not of the crime.” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_greatness_it-is-not-often-the-worst-trait-that-occ_555384.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_greatness_it-is-not-often-the-worst-trait-that-occ_555384.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_greatness_it-is-not-often-the-worst-trait-that-occ_555384.png) > ““It is not often the worst trait that occasions the loudest outcry. Men complain of their suffering and not of the crime.”” [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. People often focus on personal pain rather than addressing the root causes of injustice, leading to misplaced outrage. **In simple terms:** Complaints target suffering, not the crime. Key Takeaway Address underlying causes, not just symptoms. Themes justice complaint morality Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - activism - public discourse - policy reform - community organizing Key Concepts systemic injustice personal responsibility Questions to Reflect On - What injustice do you ignore? - How can you shift from complaint to action? A Different Perspective Changing focus may be uncomfortable for those accustomed to victim narratives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Outcry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outcry/) ## Related quotes > [Men get together, and they complain about their wives because it's what they feel they're supposed to do. It's as phony as your frat-buddy's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-crowder/men-get-together-and-they-complain-about-their-wives-because-it-s/) [Steven Crowder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-crowder/) > [In all pursuits men complain of failure when they have not attained the measure of success they proposed to themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-tomlinson/in-all-pursuits-men-complain-of-failure-when-they-have-not-attained/) [Charles Tomlinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-tomlinson/) > [“Pity . . . is more properly bestowed in cases of involuntary suffering than of crime and offences committed voluntarily and with malice aforethought.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antiphon/pity-is-more-properly-bestowed-in-cases-of-involuntary-suffering-than/) [Antiphon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antiphon/) > [The only medicine for suffering, crime, murder, and all other woes of mankind, is wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/live-skate-smoke/the-only-medicine-for-suffering-crime-murder-and-all-other-woes-of/) Live\_Skate\_Smoke > [“The only medicine for suffering, crime, and all the other woes of mankind, is wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/the-only-medicine-for-suffering-crime-and-all-the-other-woes-of/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Knowledge is like a knife. In the hands of a well-balanced adult it is an instrument for good of inestimable value; but in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-baekeland/knowledge-is-like-a-knife-in-the-hands-of-a-well-balanced-adult-it-is/) [Leo Baekeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-baekeland/) > [The only medicine for suffering, crime, and all other woes of mankind, is wisdom. Teach a man to read and write, and you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/the-only-medicine-for-suffering-crime-and-all-other-woes-of-mankind/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [I think only a massive public outcry would result in my receiving any measure of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-peltier/i-think-only-a-massive-public-outcry-would-result-in-my-receiving-any/) [Leonard Peltier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-peltier/) > [Pain is an outcry of sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-south/pain-is-an-outcry-of-sin/) [Robert South](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-south/) > [“a long habit of not thinking a thing WRONG, gives it a superficial appearance of being RIGHT, and raises at first a formidable outcry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/a-long-habit-of-not-thinking-a-thing-wrong-gives-it-a-superficial/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Nature is an outcry, unpolished truth; the art, a euphemism, tamed wilderness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/nature-is-an-outcry-unpolished-truth-the-art-a-euphemism-tamed/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [“That voice that cries out doesn't have to be a weakling's does it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-osborne/that-voice-that-cries-out-doesn-t-have-to-be-a-weakling-s-does-it/) [John Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-osborne/) > [“They want us to be afraid. They want us to be afraid of leaving our homes. They want us to barricade our doors and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/they-want-us-to-be-afraid-they-want-us-to-be-afraid-of-leaving-our/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [I think the moment anybody seriously tampers with the First Amendment, you're going to see an outcry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/i-think-the-moment-anybody-seriously-tampers-with-the-first-amendment/) [Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) > [A public outcry usually masks a private obsession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-schlosser/a-public-outcry-usually-masks-a-private-obsession/) [Eric Schlosser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-schlosser/) ## 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 Greatness quotes > [The man who can master his time can master nearly anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-man-who-can-master-his-time-can-master-nearly-anything/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Every man who is high up likes to think that he has done it all himself, and the wife smiles and lets it go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-man-who-is-high-up-likes-to-think-that-he-has-done-it-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straghtforward men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/what-we-shall-need-is-not-geniuses-or-cynics-or-misanthropes-or/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“You are destiny for greatness. Your future is in the hands of the Lord.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/you-are-destiny-for-greatness-your-future-is-in-the-hands-of-the-lord/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/we-need-to-discover-all-over-again-that-worship-is-natural-to-the/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office-seeking. Men of good character and impulses are betrayed by it into all sorts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/nothing-brings-out-the-lower-traits-of-human-nature-like-office/) [Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/) > [Men generally decide upon a middle course, which is most hazardous, for they know neither how to be entirely good nor entirely bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/men-generally-decide-upon-a-middle-course-which-is-most-hazardous-for/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Every man remembers his childhood as a kind of mythical age, just as every nation's childhood is its mythical age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-leopardi/every-man-remembers-his-childhood-as-a-kind-of-mythical-age-just-as/) [Giacomo Leopardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-leopardi/) > [Greatness is not guarding yourself from people. Greatness is being accepted by the people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/greatness-is-not-guarding-yourself-from-people-greatness-is-being/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [The superior man is distressed by his want (lack) of ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/the-superior-man-is-distressed-by-his-want-lack-of-ability/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Great men don't 'move to the center' - great men move the center!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/great-men-don-t-move-to-the-center-great-men-move-the-center/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Perfection is the enemy of greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/perfection-is-the-enemy-of-greatness/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [Men want a challenge, but they want a challenge they can win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-gaskell/men-want-a-challenge-but-they-want-a-challenge-they-can-win/) Whitney Gaskell [Browse all 7,631 Greatness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is not often the worst trait that occasions the loudest outcry. Men complain of their suffering and not of the crime.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ralph Waldo Emerson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/it-is-not-often-the-worst-trait-that-occasions-the-loudest-outcry-men/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Greatness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/it-is-not-often-the-worst-trait-that-occasions-the-loudest-outcry-men/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_greatness_it-is-not-often-the-worst-trait-that-occ_555384.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_greatness_it-is-not-often-the-worst-trait-that-occ_555384.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39c/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_greatness_it-is-not-often-the-worst-trait-that-occ_555384.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is not often the worst trait that occasions the loudest outcry. Men complain of their suffering and not…” — 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": "“It is not often the worst...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/it-is-not-often-the-worst-trait-that-occasions-the-loudest-outcry-men/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/it-is-not-often-the-worst-trait-that-occasions-the-loudest-outcry-men/#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 } } ] } ```