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About this quote

What does it mean?
Some people express truths we know better, so we use their words to communicate our thoughts.
In plain terms
Use others words when they say it better.
What can you take from it?
Embrace wisdom from others when it resonates.

Where it applies

  • writing
  • speaking
  • learning

Putting it to work

  • quote others
  • study great writers
  • share insights

Questions to consider

  • Whose words guide you?
  • How do you express your truth?

Another view

Relying too much on others can limit your own voice.

More from Ralph Waldo Emerson

  1. To live without duties is obscene.

    Permalink to quote #284
  2. A man is made by the books he reads.

    Permalink to quote #286
  3. There are many things of which a wise man might wish to be ignorant.

    Permalink to quote #283

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  2. My method is to take the utmost trouble to find the right thing to say, and then to say it with the utmost levity.

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  3. You can lead people to truth, but you can't make them understand it: the story of my youth, as seen from the present.

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