Emerson argues that personal integrity has greater value than professional advancement. A successful career may bring status, income or influence, but these gains do not compensate for conduct that requires a person to abandon important principles. By saying that even “a little integrity” is better, he deliberately places moral character above external measures of success.

Within Behavior, the statement reflects Emerson’s wider view that character is revealed through conduct. Reputation and position may depend partly on circumstances, while integrity concerns the consistency between a person’s principles and actions. The quotation does not suggest that careers are unimportant or that professional ambition is inherently suspect. Rather, it establishes a priority: advancement loses value when it depends on serious compromise of conscience or honesty. Emerson therefore treats integrity as a more durable measure of worth than occupational achievement alone.