Have mountains, and waves, and skies, no significance but what we consciously give them, when we employ them as emblems of our thoughts?
Interpretation
The meaning we assign to nature is shaped by our thoughts and perspectives.
In this quote, Emerson reflects on how the natural elements of mountains, waves, and skies do not possess inherent significance; rather, their meaning arises from the way we choose to interpret and represent them in relation to our thoughts and emotions. This underscores the power of human perception and the subjective nature of meaning in the world around us.
In practice
In a discussion about the importance of perspective in art, this quote can illustrate how artists imbue meaning into their work based on their thoughts.
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?
It is better to be beautiful than to be good. But... it is better to be good than to be ugly.
We're terrible animals. I think that the Earth's immune system is trying to get rid of us, as well it should.
To kill a man will be considered as disgusting [in the twentieth century] as we in this day consider it disgusting to eat one.
Philosophers have not kept up with modern developments in science. Particularly physics.
To look into the eyes of a wolf is to see your own soul - hope you like what you see.
I do not accept any absolute formulas for living. No preconceived code can see ahead to everything that can happen in a man's life. As we live, we grow and our beliefs change. They must change. So I think we should live with this constant discovery. We should be open to this adventure in heightened awareness of living. We should stake our whole existence on our willingness to explore and experience.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.