Did Ralph Waldo Emerson really say that all the great speakers were bad speakers at first?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an often-used quotation, attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, that:

 

“All the great speakers were bad speakers at first.”

 

For example, John Zimmer used it on the home page of his Manner of Speaking web site. (John has written about over 340 quotes there). But, did Emerson really say that?

 

I looked at Google Books (and also EbscoHost), and quickly found that quote is real. It appears in his 1860 book of essays titled The Conduct of  Life in an essay on Power. A longer version is:

 

“….Practice is nine-tenths. A course of mobs is good practice for orators. All the great speakers were bad speakers at first. Stumping through England for seven years made Cobden a consummate debater. Stumping it through New England for twice seven trained Wendell Phillips….”

 

The 1871 engraving of Emerson came from the Library of Congress.