The arts and inventions of each period are only its costume, and do not invigorate men.
Interpretation
Art and inventions reflect the time but do not empower individuals.
Ralph Waldo Emerson suggests that the artistic expressions and technological innovations of any given era are merely superficial adornments, representative of the culture and trends of that time, rather than true sources of strength or inspiration for humanity. This perspective emphasizes that the essence of human experience and dignity lies beyond the external trappings of art and invention.
In practice
In an art class, while discussing the essence of creativity, this quote can inspire students to look deeper than surface aesthetics.
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?
One is born to be a dancer. No teacher can work miracles, nor will years of training make a good dancer of an untalented pupil. One may be able to acquire a certain technical facility, but no one can ever 'acquire an exceptional talent.' I have never prided myself on having an unusually gifted pupil. A Pavlova is no one's pupil but God's.
The poets who have written the best poems about war seem to be the poets whose countries have experienced an invasion or vicious dictatorships.
Honest songs aren`t written for money.
Because for whatever reason, even though I want to stay home all the time and be left alone, I want to tell the world who I am now.
I came to the realization that I can also satisfy my creative side by giving somebody else a chance. I don't have to be in front of the camera for every project.
Gardeners (or just plain simple writers who write about the garden) always have something they like intensely and in particular, right at the moment you engage them in the reality of the borders they cultivate, the space in the garden they occupy at any moment, they like in particular this, or they like in particular that.
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