From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordEmulation is the impulse to match or surpass another.
- In TraherneTraherne preserves both possibilities.
- In this edition“Emulation” is not always equivalent to envy.
- A place to beginEmulation accompanies false interests, murmuring, and the competitive pursuit of invented riches.
Meaning
Emulation is the impulse to match or surpass another. It can describe jealous competition, but it can also mean an ambition quickened by an admirable example.
Use in the book
Traherne preserves both possibilities. In the account of false riches, emulation belongs to the crowded list of passions through which people disturb one another. In the account of human faculties, it is a gift enabling examples to animate a person toward excellence. The opposition is not between social influence and isolated self-sufficiency. It is between copying mistaken valuations and receiving another’s goodness as encouragement. Education must redirect the impulse rather than assume its mere existence is corrupt.
Places to read
In this edition
“Emulation” is not always equivalent to envy. Its favourable occurrence matters: another person’s excellence can enlarge one’s aspiration without becoming a grievance.