For my inspirational Emerson one-liner, I chose: “Every day, the sun; and, after sunset, night and her stars. Ever the winds blow; ever the grass grows. Every day, men and women, conversing, beholding and beholden. The scholar must needs stand wistful and admiring before this great spectacle” (Emerson 245). This quote captures the spirit of Emerson because it is both philosophical and natural. I think the image that I used enhances both the text and the spirit of Emerson because of its beauty. Everyone has seen at least one beautiful sunrise or sunset in their lifetime, and a beautiful natural vista can turn anyone into a scholar or philosopher, causing us to ponder life questions such as the existence of a creator and the beauty of nature.
However, this quote does lose something when it’s separated from the rest of its section. On its own, this quote really seems to just be about admiring nature. “The scholar must needs stand wistful and admiring before this great spectacle.” It doesn’t go into how we “must needs” admire nature. The section goes on to describe how first the scholar must “settle [nature’s] value in his mind,” and how nature’s continuity and circular power resemble his own spirit. Emerson then discusses how our minds impose order and classification on nature, and how natural laws and the human mind are strangely similar. From this comes realization and exploration of the soul, so that “the ancient precept, ‘Know thyself,’ and the modern precept, ‘Study nature,’ become at last one maxim” (246). None of that self-exploration comes through when the quote is given on its own; only the admiration of nature itself is present then.
For my inspirational Emerson one-liner, I chose: “Every day, the sun; and, after sunset, night and her stars. Ever the winds blow; ever the grass grows. Every day, men and women, conversing, beholding and beholden. The scholar must needs stand wistful and admiring before this great spectacle” (Emerson 245). This quote captures the spirit of Emerson because it is both philosophical and natural. I think the image that I used enhances both the text and the spirit of Emerson because of its beauty. Everyone has seen at least one beautiful sunrise or sunset in their lifetime, and a beautiful natural vista can turn anyone into a scholar or philosopher, causing us to ponder life questions such as the existence of a creator and the beauty of nature.
ReplyDeleteHowever, this quote does lose something when it’s separated from the rest of its section. On its own, this quote really seems to just be about admiring nature. “The scholar must needs stand wistful and admiring before this great spectacle.” It doesn’t go into how we “must needs” admire nature. The section goes on to describe how first the scholar must “settle [nature’s] value in his mind,” and how nature’s continuity and circular power resemble his own spirit. Emerson then discusses how our minds impose order and classification on nature, and how natural laws and the human mind are strangely similar. From this comes realization and exploration of the soul, so that “the ancient precept, ‘Know thyself,’ and the modern precept, ‘Study nature,’ become at last one maxim” (246). None of that self-exploration comes through when the quote is given on its own; only the admiration of nature itself is present then.