By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we all quote.

Emerson’s line treats quotation not as a mere literary habit but as a fundamental human practice. “Necessity” suggests that language and thought are inherited and communal: we rely on prior words to name experience and to communicate efficiently. “Proclivity” implies an innate tendency to echo what we have heard—memory, education, and culture predispose us to repeat. “Delight” adds a positive dimension: quoting can be playful, affectionate, and aesthetically satisfying, a way to savor apt phrasing and to affiliate ourselves with admired minds. The sentence also hints at Emerson’s broader interest in originality versus tradition: even the most independent thinker speaks through a shared treasury of expressions.