--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What is addressed to us for contemplation…" description: "\"What is addressed to us for contemplation does not threaten us, but makes us intellectual beings.\" — Ralph Waldo Emerson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_contemplation_what-is-addressed-to-us-for-contemplatio_475365.png" --- # What is addressed to us for contemplation does not… ![“What is addressed to us for contemplation does not threaten us, but makes us intellectual beings.” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_contemplation_what-is-addressed-to-us-for-contemplatio_475365.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_contemplation_what-is-addressed-to-us-for-contemplatio_475365.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_contemplation_what-is-addressed-to-us-for-contemplatio_475365.png) > “What is addressed to us for contemplation does not threaten us, but makes us intellectual beings.” [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. Contemplation expands intellect without threatening, encouraging thoughtful engagement over fear. **In simple terms:** Thinking makes us smarter, not scared. Key Takeaway Embrace thoughtful reflection. Themes philosophy intellectual growth courage Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - education - public speaking - writing - personal development Key Concepts critical thinking self‑improvement Questions to Reflect On - What topics challenge your thinking? - How can reflection lead to action? A Different Perspective Some may misuse contemplation to avoid action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Contemplation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemplation/) [Intellectual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectual/) [Meditation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meditation/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thoughtful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thoughtful/) ## Related quotes > [Contemplation does not ignore the 'historical Gethsemane', does not ignore the mystery of evil, guilt and its bloody atonement. The happiness of contemplation is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josef-pieper/contemplation-does-not-ignore-the-historical-gethsemane-does-not/) [Josef Pieper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josef-pieper/) > [“Contemplation does not rest until it has found the object which dazzles it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-weiss/contemplation-does-not-rest-until-it-has-found-the-object-which/) Konrad Weiss > [Love makes intellectual pretzels of us all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-bird/love-makes-intellectual-pretzels-of-us-all/) [Sarah Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-bird/) > [“We are intellectual beings- we can think, reason and solve problems;like God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moroaswi-tumiso-victor/we-are-intellectual-beings-we-can-think-reason-and-solve-problems/) [Moroaswi Tumiso Victor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moroaswi-tumiso-victor/) > [“Contemplation, on the contrary, is the experiential grasp of reality as subjective, not so much “mine” (which would signify “belonging to the external self”)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/contemplation-on-the-contrary-is-the-experiential-grasp-of-reality-as/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [“Earthly contemplation means to the Christian, we have said, this above all: that behind all that we directly encounter the Face of the incarnate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josef-pieper/earthly-contemplation-means-to-the-christian-we-have-said-this-above/) [Josef Pieper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josef-pieper/) > [Prayer that craves a particular commodity—anything less than all good, is vicious. Prayer is the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/prayer-that-craves-a-particular-commodity-anything-less-than-all-good/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Idealism sees the world in God. It beholds the whole circle of persons and things, of actions and events, of country and religion,not as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/idealism-sees-the-world-in-god-it-beholds-the-whole-circle-of-persons/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Do not craze yourself with thinking, but go about your business anywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/do-not-craze-yourself-with-thinking-but-go-about-your-business/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [To the young mind every thing is individual, stands by itself. By and by, it finds how to join two things and see in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/to-the-young-mind-every-thing-is-individual-stands-by-itself-by-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The crystal sphere of thought is as concentrical as the geological structure of the globe. As our soils and rocks lie in strata, concentric…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-crystal-sphere-of-thought-is-as-concentrical-as-the-geological/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [In the uttermost meaning of the words, thought is devout, and devotion is thought. Deep calls unto deep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-the-uttermost-meaning-of-the-words-thought-is-devout-and-devotion-2/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [How much more the seeker of abstract truth, who needs periods of isolation, and rapt concentration, and almost a going out of thebody to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/how-much-more-the-seeker-of-abstract-truth-who-needs-periods-of/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [... Arthur Gride, whose bleared eyes gloated only over the outward beauties, and were blind to the spirit which reigned within, evinced - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/arthur-gride-whose-bleared-eyes-gloated-only-over-the-outward/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Inside every pause lived a contemplation”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/inside-every-pause-lived-a-contemplation/) [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) ## 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 Contemplation quotes > [“Inside every pause lived a contemplation”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-jerome-dickey/inside-every-pause-lived-a-contemplation/) [Eric Jerome Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-jerome-dickey/) > [... Arthur Gride, whose bleared eyes gloated only over the outward beauties, and were blind to the spirit which reigned within, evinced - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/arthur-gride-whose-bleared-eyes-gloated-only-over-the-outward/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Let no one hope to find in contemplation an escape from conflict, from anguish or from doubt. On the contrary, the deep, inexpressible certitude…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/let-no-one-hope-to-find-in-contemplation-an-escape-from-conflict-from/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [“The problem with the contemplative life was that there was no end to contemplation, no fixed time limit after which thought had to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-russo/the-problem-with-the-contemplative-life-was-that-there-was-no-end-to/) [Richard Russo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-russo/) > [Poetical taste is the only magician whose wand is not broken. No hand, except its own, can dissolve the fabric of beauty in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/poetical-taste-is-the-only-magician-whose-wand-is-not-broken-no-hand/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [Catholicity seized on man... and the mystics, transcending all, taught him to ascend on high with the wings of contemplation the Ladder of Jacob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-donoso-cortes/catholicity-seized-on-man-and-the-mystics-transcending-all-taught-him/) Juan Donoso Cortes > [To enter into the realm of contemplation one must in a certain sense die: but this death is in fact the entrance to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/to-enter-into-the-realm-of-contemplation-one-must-in-a-certain-sense/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The whole of life is a journey toward youthful old age, toward self-contemplation, love, gaiety, and, in a fundamental sense, the most gratifying time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/the-whole-of-life-is-a-journey-toward-youthful-old-age-toward-self/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [“Yet that grief and this joy were alike outside all the ordinary conditions of life; they were loop-holes, as it were, in that ordinary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/yet-that-grief-and-this-joy-were-alike-outside-all-the-ordinary/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Everyone who wants to know what will happen ought to examine what has happened: everything in this world in any epoch has their replicas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/everyone-who-wants-to-know-what-will-happen-ought-to-examine-what-has/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [We must not imitate the externals of nature with so much fidelity that the picture fails to evoke that wonderful teasing recurrence of emotion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-carlson/we-must-not-imitate-the-externals-of-nature-with-so-much-fidelity/) [John F. Carlson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-carlson/) > [As objects of contemplation, images of the atrocious can answer to several different needs. To steel oneself against weakness. To make oneself more numb.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/as-objects-of-contemplation-images-of-the-atrocious-can-answer-to/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I think the church should strive to give parishioners good music. Music is as necessary for worship as a building with a beautiful altar,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-brubeck/i-think-the-church-should-strive-to-give-parishioners-good-music/) [Dave Brubeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-brubeck/) > [ My contemplation of life and human nature in that secluded place \[cell 54 of Cairo Central Prison\] taught me that he who cannot change… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anwar-sadat/my-contemplation-of-life-and-human-nature-in-that-secluded-place-cell/) [Anwar Sadat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anwar-sadat/) > [You cannot grow in the integrative dance of action and contemplation without a strong tolerance for ambiguity, an ability to allow, forgive, and contain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/you-cannot-grow-in-the-integrative-dance-of-action-and-contemplation/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) [Browse all 960 Contemplation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemplation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What is addressed to us for contemplation does not threaten us, but makes us intellectual beings.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ralph Waldo Emerson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/what-is-addressed-to-us-for-contemplation-does-not-threaten-us-but/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Contemplation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/what-is-addressed-to-us-for-contemplation-does-not-threaten-us-but/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_contemplation_what-is-addressed-to-us-for-contemplatio_475365.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_contemplation_what-is-addressed-to-us-for-contemplatio_475365.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4a/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_contemplation_what-is-addressed-to-us-for-contemplatio_475365.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What is addressed to us for contemplation does not threaten us, but makes us intellectual beings.” — 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": "What is addressed to us for...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/what-is-addressed-to-us-for-contemplation-does-not-threaten-us-but/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/what-is-addressed-to-us-for-contemplation-does-not-threaten-us-but/#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 } } ] } ```