--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The imitator dooms himself to hopeless…" description: "\"The imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity.\" — Ralph Waldo Emerson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/001/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_doom_the-imitator-dooms-himself-to-hopeless-m_2893117.png" --- # The imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity. ![“The imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity.” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/001/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_doom_the-imitator-dooms-himself-to-hopeless-m_2893117.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/001/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_doom_the-imitator-dooms-himself-to-hopeless-m_2893117.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/001/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_doom_the-imitator-dooms-himself-to-hopeless-m_2893117.png) > “The imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity.” [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. Imitation leads to mediocrity; originality is essential for fulfillment. **In simple terms:** Copying leads to mediocrity. Key Takeaway Cultivate original thought. Themes originality self-reliance mediocrity Mood inspirational cautionary Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - writing - artistic work - career development Key Concepts creativity personal growth Questions to Reflect On - How to foster originality socially? - What risks accompany uniqueness? A Different Perspective Originality can be isolating. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Doom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doom/) [Dooms Hopeless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dooms-hopeless-4073745/) [Hopeless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hopeless/) [Hopeless Mediocrity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hopeless-mediocrity-4073744/) [Imitator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imitator/) [Imitator Dooms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imitator-dooms-4073743/) [Mediocrity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mediocrity/) ## Related quotes > [The imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity. The inventor did it because it was natural to him, and so in him it has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-imitator-dooms-himself-to-hopeless-mediocrity-the-inventor-did-it/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Be yourself; no base imitator of another, but your best self. There is something which you can do better than another. Listen to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/be-yourself-no-base-imitator-of-another-but-your-best-self-there-is/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Be yourself; no base imitator of another, but your best self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/be-yourself-no-base-imitator-of-another-but-your-best-self/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The only certain means of success is to render more and better service than is expected of you, no matter what the task may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/og-mandino/the-only-certain-means-of-success-is-to-render-more-and-better-2/) [Og Mandino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/og-mandino/) > [Cooking saved my life! Sure, there were some miserable moments, but that was sort of the point, to find something challenging and consuming enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-powell/cooking-saved-my-life-sure-there-were-some-miserable-moments-but-that/) [Julie Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-powell/) > [Solitude, the safeguard of mediocrity, is to genius the stern friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/solitude-the-safeguard-of-mediocrity-is-to-genius-the-stern-friend/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [an imitator is always a poor example.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-davies/an-imitator-is-always-a-poor-example/) [Marion Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-davies/) > [The difference between a man who faces death for the sake of an idea and an imitator who goes in search of martyrdom is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-difference-between-a-man-who-faces-death-for-the-sake-of-an-idea/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [We are stereotyped creatures, imitators and copiers of our past selves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-stereotyped-creatures-imitators-and-copiers-of-our-past-selves/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [No country can become a nation by producing a race of imitators.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-country-can-become-a-nation-by-producing-a-race-of-imitators/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [If I created a new depravity I would be a priestess, while my imitators would founder, after my reign, in abominable filth...Don't you think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachilde/if-i-created-a-new-depravity-i-would-be-a-priestess-while-my/) [Rachilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachilde/) > [Without good humour, learning and bravery can only confer that superiority which swells the heart of the lion in the desert, where he roars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/without-good-humour-learning-and-bravery-can-only-confer-that/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [It is not imitation that makes sons. It is sonship that make imitators.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/it-is-not-imitation-that-makes-sons-it-is-sonship-that-make-imitators/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [Cafe society is as old as the hills. Starbucks and its imitators are the coffee face of the new man in a hurry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-anderson/cafe-society-is-as-old-as-the-hills-starbucks-and-its-imitators-are/) [Ian Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-anderson/) > [It is not the imitation that makes sons; it is sonship that makes imitators.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/it-is-not-the-imitation-that-makes-sons-it-is-sonship-that-makes/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) ## 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 Doom quotes > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [... War on the destiny of man! Doom on the sun! Before death takes you, O take back this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/war-on-the-destiny-of-man-doom-on-the-sun-before-death-takes-you-o/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Fate with impartial hand turns out the doom of high and low; her capacious urn is constantly shaking the names of all mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/fate-with-impartial-hand-turns-out-the-doom-of-high-and-low-her/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [It is easy enough to say that man is immortal simply because he will endure: that when the last ding-dong of doom has clanged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/it-is-easy-enough-to-say-that-man-is-immortal-simply-because-he-will/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [Early on a difficult climb, especially a solo climb, you’re hyper-aware of the abyss pulling at your back, constantly feeling its call, its immense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-krakauer/early-on-a-difficult-climb-especially-a-solo-climb-you-re-hyper-aware/) [Jon Krakauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-krakauer/) > [Forget the noose. Forget the Iron Maiden. Forget the electric chair or the guillotine. The mind was mankind's most painful torture chamber, the blessed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffanie-debartolo/forget-the-noose-forget-the-iron-maiden-forget-the-electric-chair-or/) [Tiffanie DeBartolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffanie-debartolo/) > [When there's doom and gloom, don't forget there's darkness before dawn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rakesh-jhunjhunwala/when-there-s-doom-and-gloom-don-t-forget-there-s-darkness-before-dawn/) [Rakesh Jhunjhunwala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rakesh-jhunjhunwala/) > [For Scotland has a double dose of the poison called heredity; the sense of blood in the aristocrat, the sense of doom in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/for-scotland-has-a-double-dose-of-the-poison-called-heredity-the/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Politics is about the participation and engagement of the wider citizenry - to miss that point would doom us to irrelevance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-blunkett/politics-is-about-the-participation-and-engagement-of-the-wider/) [David Blunkett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-blunkett/) > [Social and cultural change, however desirable, should not be effected by the engines of national power. Let us, through persuasion and education, seek to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-goldwater/social-and-cultural-change-however-desirable-should-not-be-effected/) [Barry Goldwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-goldwater/) > [Seek for the Sword that was broken In Imladris it dwells; There shall be counsels taken Stronger than Morgul-spells. There shall be shown a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/seek-for-the-sword-that-was-broken-in-imladris-it-dwells-there-shall/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Cathy, don't look so defeated. She was only trying to put us down again. Maybe nothing did work out right for her, but that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-c-andrews/cathy-don-t-look-so-defeated-she-was-only-trying-to-put-us-down-again/) [V.C. Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-c-andrews/) > [“She told herself that she was happy to meet her executioner.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-maclean/she-told-herself-that-she-was-happy-to-meet-her-executioner/) [Sarah MacLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-maclean/) > [“The danger of darkness is deep doom!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-danger-of-darkness-is-deep-doom/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [There is the extreme of hopelessness and the inevitability of doom, a deep despair that comes from the sense that our industrial, consuming society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/there-is-the-extreme-of-hopelessness-and-the-inevitability-of-doom-a/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) [Browse all 501 Doom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ralph Waldo Emerson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-imitator-dooms-himself-to-hopeless-mediocrity/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Doom" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-imitator-dooms-himself-to-hopeless-mediocrity/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/001/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_doom_the-imitator-dooms-himself-to-hopeless-m_2893117.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/001/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_doom_the-imitator-dooms-himself-to-hopeless-m_2893117.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/001/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_doom_the-imitator-dooms-himself-to-hopeless-m_2893117.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity.” — 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": "The imitator dooms himself to hopeless...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-imitator-dooms-himself-to-hopeless-mediocrity/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-imitator-dooms-himself-to-hopeless-mediocrity/#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 } } ] } ```