To be great is to be misunderstood.
Genuine
Yes. In Essays: First Series (1841), Essay II, “Self-Reliance”.
Found word for word by program in the full text.
- Work
- Essays: First Series (Essays), 1841
- Where
- Essay II, “Self-Reliance”
- Found at
- Paragraph 78 of the text
Researched by AI; checked by program against the full text on 31 October 2026. Editorial review: pending. How we check
On the page
[…] Leave your theory, as Joseph his coat in the hand of the harlot, and flee.
[…] With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day.—‘Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.’—Is it so bad then to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.
I suppose no man can violate his nature. All the sallies of his will are rounded in by the law of his being, as the inequalities of Andes and Himmaleh are insignificant in the curve of the sphere. […]
There will be an agreement in whatever variety of actions, so they be each honest and natural in their hour. For of one will, the actions will be harmonious, however unlike they seem. […]
The scene
Emerson is arguing against keeping your opinions consistent with what you said yesterday merely to look reliable. He imagines the objection that if you change your mind aloud you will be misunderstood, answers it with a list of thinkers who were, and closes the paragraph with the sentence everyone quotes.
What it means
Whoever thinks for themselves will be misread by those who expect them to stay the same; being misunderstood is the price of originality, not a sign of failure.
Often misread
Often taken as a general comfort that being misunderstood proves greatness. Emerson says only that the great were misunderstood (his examples are Pythagoras to Newton), not that everyone misunderstood is great. Oscar Wilde closes a note to Whistler in his “Notes on Whistler” with the same words (Miscellanies, public-domain text held in the atlas), so they are also found credited to him.
Topics
Related quotes
- A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.
- Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist.
- Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
- Without deviation, progress is not possible. Frank Zappa
- Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. Mahatma Gandhi
Cite it
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays: First Series (1841), Essay II, “Self-Reliance”. Checked at Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/to-be-great-is-to-be-misunderstood/ (31 October 2026).
Have a different wording, or a source we missed? Check it or submit it.
Do you hold the rights to anything on this page? Tell us.
Checked by people
People who checked this entry against its source, under their own names. Their checks do not change the verdict: an editor reviews every entry.
Comments