Little thinks, in the field, yon red-cloaked clown, Of thee, from the hill-top looking down; And the heifer, that lows in the upland farm, Far-heard, lows not thine ear to charm; The sexton tolling the bell at noon, Dreams not that great Napoleon Sto
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the indifferent nature of life towards individual concerns and ambitions in the grand scheme of things.
In this quote, Emerson illustrates how various elements of life, such as the red-cloaked clown, the distant heifer, and the sexton tolling the bell, remain oblivious to one another and to the larger historical context, exemplified by Napoleon. This suggests that while individuals may be preoccupied with their own lives, significant events and figures may exist beyond their awareness, highlighting a disconnect between personal experiences and the broader human narrative.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about the nature of individual struggles in the face of historical events.
It is plain that there is no separate essence called courage, no cup or cell in the brain, no vessel in the heart containing drops or atoms that make or give this virtue; but it is the right or healthy state of every man, when he is free to do that which is constitutional to him to do.
Few people have any next, they live from hand to mouth without a plan, and are always at the end of their line.
Men cease to interest us when we find their limitations
Tis the good reader that makes the good book; a good head cannot read amiss: in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakeably meant for his ear.
The world belongs to the energetic.
Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?
The future is uncertain but the end is always near.
Memory never recaptures reality. Memory reconstructs. All reconstructions change the original, becoming external frames of reference that inevitably fall short.
I am a Muslim and . . . my religion makes me be against all forms of racism. It keeps me from judging any man by the color of his skin. It teaches me to judge him by his deeds and his conscious behavior. And it teaches me to be for the rights of all human beings, but especially the Afro-American human being, because my religion is a natural religion, and the first law of nature is self-preservation.
The trouble with being a god is that you've got no one to pray to.
And yet we knew, for a certainty, that when first emissaries of Earth went walking among the planets, Earth's other sons would be dreaming not about such expeditions but about a piece of bread.
If the universe is so bad...how on earth did human beings ever come to attribute it to the activity of a wise and good Creator?
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