--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Shakespeare carries us to such a lofty…" description: "\"Shakespeare carries us to such a lofty strain of intelligent activity, as to suggest a wealth which beggars his own; and we then feel that the splendid..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af3/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_activity_shakespeare-carries-us-to-such-a-lofty-s_792903.png" --- # Shakespeare carries us to such a lofty strain of… ![“Shakespeare carries us to such a lofty strain of intelligent activity, as to suggest a wealth which beggars his own; and we then feel that the splendid works which he has created, and which in other hours we extol as a sort of self-existent poetry, take no stronger hold of real nature than the…” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af3/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_activity_shakespeare-carries-us-to-such-a-lofty-s_792903.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af3/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_activity_shakespeare-carries-us-to-such-a-lofty-s_792903.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af3/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_activity_shakespeare-carries-us-to-such-a-lofty-s_792903.png) > “Shakespeare carries us to such a lofty strain of intelligent activity, as to suggest a wealth which beggars his own; and we then feel that the splendid works which he has created, and which in other hours we extol as a sort of self-existent poetry, take no stronger hold of real nature than the shadow of a passing traveller on the rock. The inspiration which uttered itself in Hamlet and Lear could utter things as good from day to day, for ever.” [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. Shakespeare’s work, though grand, is fleeting like a traveler’s shadow; yet its inspiration endures, showing art’s lasting impact despite its transience. **In simple terms:** Great art is fleeting but its influence lasts. Key Takeaway Appreciate enduring artistic inspiration. Themes art transience inspiration legacy Mood reflective admiring Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - literary criticism - creative writing - cultural studies - personal reflection Key Concepts ephemeral fame lasting influence Questions to Reflect On - How does fleeting art affect us today? - What makes some works timeless? A Different Perspective Focusing on temporality may undervalue immediate relevance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Activity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) [Beggar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beggar/) [Carrie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carrie/) [Day to day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day-to-day/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Hamlet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hamlet/) [Hamlet Lear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hamlet-lear-3418063/) [Hours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hours/) [Inspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration/) [Inspiration Uttered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration-uttered-6086278/) [Intelligent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligent/) [Lear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lear/) [Lofty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lofty/) [Passing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passing/) [Passings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passings/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Rocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rocks/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Shadow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shadow/) [Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shakespeare/) [Shakespeare Carries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shakespeare-carries-6086280/) [Splendid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/splendid/) [Strain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strain/) [Stronger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stronger/) [Traveller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/traveller/) [Uttered Hamlet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/uttered-hamlet-6086279/) [Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wealth/) ## Related quotes > [To paraphrase Oedipus, Hamlet, Lear, and all those guys, "I wish I had known this some time ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/to-paraphrase-oedipus-hamlet-lear-and-all-those-guys-i-wish-i-had/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [Where dwells the religion? Tell me first where dwells electricity, or motion, or thought or gesture. They do not dwell or stay atall. Electricity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/where-dwells-the-religion-tell-me-first-where-dwells-electricity-or/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Do not follow where the path may lead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/do-not-follow-where-the-path-may-lead/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Announced by all the trumpets of the sky, Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields, Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air Hides…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/announced-by-all-the-trumpets-of-the-sky-arrives-the-snow-and-driving-2/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The soul is no traveller; the wise man stays at home, and when his necessities, his duties, on any occasion call him from his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-soul-is-no-traveller-the-wise-man-stays-at-home-and-when-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [We are like travellers using the cinders of a volcano to roast their eggs. Whilst we see that it always stands ready to clothe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/we-are-like-travellers-using-the-cinders-of-a-volcano-to-roast-their/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Grant me an old man's frenzy, Myself must I remake Till I am Timon and Lear Or that William Blake Who beat upon the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/grant-me-an-old-man-s-frenzy-myself-must-i-remake-till-i-am-timon-and/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [The Only Way To Have Peace is To Teach Peach… ¥](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-way-to-have-peace-is-to-teach-peach/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“All's well that ends well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-s-well-that-ends-well/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ After we did \[All In The Family\], that ended up being a real love fest all around. Me and Norman, Norman \[Lear\] and me,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-masur/after-we-did-all-in-the-family-that-ended-up-being-a-real-love-fest/) [Richard Masur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-masur/) > [Thou whoreson zed! Thou unnecessary letter! My lord, if you will give me leave, I will tread this unbolted villain into mortar, and daub…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/thou-whoreson-zed-thou-unnecessary-letter-my-lord-if-you-will-give-me/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“No matter how many times we read "King Lear," never shall we find the good king banging his tankard in high revelry, all woes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/no-matter-how-many-times-we-read-king-lear-never-shall-we-find-the/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [If you are playing King Lear you are the centre of attention anyway. You don't need to draw attention to yourself. It's all laid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mckellen/if-you-are-playing-king-lear-you-are-the-centre-of-attention-anyway/) [Ian Mckellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mckellen/) > [I consider myself a disciple of Norman Lear. And one of the things he did was topic-driven humor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenya-barris/i-consider-myself-a-disciple-of-norman-lear-and-one-of-the-things-he/) [Kenya Barris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenya-barris/) > [Is man no more than this? Consider him well. Thou ow'st the worm no silk, the beast no hide, the sheep no wool, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/is-man-no-more-than-this-consider-him-well-thou-ow-st-the-worm-no/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) ## 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 Activity quotes > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [It must be assumed and established as a principle, that the right of private property must be regarded as sacred. Wherefore, the law ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-xiii/it-must-be-assumed-and-established-as-a-principle-that-the-right-of/) [Pope Leo XIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-xiii/) > [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/) > [And also I think the rise of other, you could say, destinations for international jihadis mean that Pakistan isn't necessarily the place where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-also-i-think-the-rise-of-other-you-could-say-destinations-for/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Fighting's fun, man. It's a great activity, it's a great sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mitrione/fighting-s-fun-man-it-s-a-great-activity-it-s-a-great-sport/) [Matt Mitrione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mitrione/) > [There were books everywhere in my house. Books were very present. I just loved books. I never understood reading as anything but a pleasurable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-lucas/there-were-books-everywhere-in-my-house-books-were-very-present-i/) [Lisa Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-lucas/) > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The only activity a cynic will find contagious is yawning, that is, with other people, at other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/the-only-activity-a-cynic-will-find-contagious-is-yawning-that-is/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [For the longest time, neuroscientists were forced to be passive observers of brain activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gero-miesenbock/for-the-longest-time-neuroscientists-were-forced-to-be-passive/) [Gero Miesenbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gero-miesenbock/) > [Enjoyment is not a goal, it is a feeling that accompanies important ongoing activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/enjoyment-is-not-a-goal-it-is-a-feeling-that-accompanies-important/) [Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/) > [Once an activity has been socialized, it is impossible to point out, by concrete example, how men in a free market could better conduct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-read/once-an-activity-has-been-socialized-it-is-impossible-to-point-out-by/) [Leonard Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-read/) > [“Fun is not an activity, it is a state of mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/fun-is-not-an-activity-it-is-a-state-of-mind/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [I have to consider everything I eat; I consider every activity I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kimball/i-have-to-consider-everything-i-eat-i-consider-every-activity-i-do/) [Charlie Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kimball/) > [Almost all good businesses engage in 'pain today, gain tomorrow' activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/almost-all-good-businesses-engage-in-pain-today-gain-tomorrow/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) [Browse all 3,263 Activity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Shakespeare carries us to such a lofty strain of intelligent activity, as to suggest a wealth which beggars his own; and we then feel that the splendid works which he has created, and which in other hours we extol as a sort of self-existent poetry, take no stronger hold of real nature than the shadow of a passing traveller on the rock. 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