For, the sense of being which in calm hours rises, we know not how, in the soul, is not diverse from things, from space, from light, from time, from man, but one with them, and proceeds obviously from the same source whence their life and being also proceed. We first share the life by which things exist, and afterwards see them as appearances in nature, and forget that we have shared their cause. Here is the fountain of action and of thought.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the interconnectedness of all existence and the shared essence that underlies both things and human perception.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote highlights the profound connection between the human soul and the universe. He suggests that in moments of tranquility, we become aware of our unity with all forms of existence—things, light, time, and even humanity itself. This awareness reveals that our perceptions of the world are mere appearances, masking the fundamental cause that gives life to everything. Emerson proposes that the source of our thoughts and actions is intertwined with the essence of the universe.
In practice
In a lecture on existentialism, you might quote Emerson to illustrate the shared essence of all beings.
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 atom cannot disobey the law. Whether it is the mental or the physical atom, it must obey the law. "What is the use of [external restraint]?"
The doctor sees all the weakness of mankind; the lawyer all the wickedness, the theologian all the stupidity.
An extravagance is something that your spirit thinks is a necessity.
Permanent good can never be the outcome of untruth and violence
Capitalism is not the system of the past; it is the system of the future -- if mankind is to have a future
So, at one extreme you have indigenous, tribal societies trying to stem the race to disaster. At the other extreme, the richest, most powerful societies in world history, like the United States and Canada, are racing full-speed ahead to destroy the environment as quickly as possible.
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