The imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity.
In plain words
Copying someone else is the surest way to never be great yourself.
Where these words come from
- 95% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
- Divinity College Address (1838).
- 1838
More from Ralph Waldo Emerson
See allThe creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.
Ralph Waldo EmersonWrite it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.Ralph Waldo EmersonWe will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds.Ralph Waldo EmersonHitch your wagon to a star.Ralph Waldo EmersonKnowledge is the antidote to fear.Ralph Waldo EmersonEvery genuine work of art has as much reason for being as the earth and the sun.Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo EmersonWrite it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.Ralph Waldo EmersonWe will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds.Ralph Waldo EmersonHitch your wagon to a star.Ralph Waldo EmersonKnowledge is the antidote to fear.Ralph Waldo EmersonEvery genuine work of art has as much reason for being as the earth and the sun.Ralph Waldo EmersonMore on individuality
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.
Oscar WildeNot all who wander are lost.
J.R.R. Tolkien'Know thyself' was written over the portal of the antique world. Over the portal of the new world, 'Be thyself' shall be written.Oscar WildeAlways be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.
Judy GarlandIt takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and genius, especially ambitious young men and women.
Louisa May AlcottHe who pursues fame at the risk of losing his self is not a scholar.
Zhuangzi
Oscar WildeNot all who wander are lost.J.R.R. Tolkien'Know thyself' was written over the portal of the antique world. Over the portal of the new world, 'Be thyself' shall be written.Oscar WildeAlways be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.Judy GarlandIt takes people a long time to learn the difference between talent and genius, especially ambitious young men and women.Louisa May AlcottHe who pursues fame at the risk of losing his self is not a scholar.Zhuangzi