Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker says health and time allow one to mock imperial pomp.
In plain terms
Good health and a day let you ridicule emperors.
What can you take from it?
Being well‑rested empowers critique of power.

Where it applies

  • after recovery
  • in leisure

Putting it to work

  • rest before protest
  • use humor

Questions to consider

  • How does personal well‑being affect political engagement?

Another view

Mockery alone does not change power structures.

More from Ralph Waldo Emerson

  1. Standing on the bare ground, - my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, - all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball…

    Permalink to quote #55
  2. Every natural fact is a symbol of some spiritual fact.

    Permalink to quote #57
  3. There are always two parties, the party of the past and the party of the Future; the Establishment and the Movement...

    Permalink to quote #54

Related quotes

  1. Yes, there is a conspiracy, in fact there are a great number of conspiracies that are all tripping each other up. And all of those conspiracies are run by para…

    Alan MooreAlan Moore quote #2
  2. When I purchase a food item at the supermarket, I can be confident that the label will state how much riboflavin is in it. The United States government require…

    Dave BarryDave Barry quote #6
  3. It's a brilliant metaphor. What I meant to say was, when you see a monkey masturbating at the zoo...

    Jon StewartJon Stewart quote #15