The first and last lesson of religion is, "The things that are seen, are temporal; the things that are unseen, are eternal." It puts an affront upon nature.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that physical, visible things are temporary, while spiritual and invisible truths possess eternal significance.
Ralph Waldo Emerson emphasizes the contrast between the temporary nature of material existence and the everlasting nature of spiritual truths. By asserting that the seen is temporal and the unseen is eternal, he suggests that true understanding and value lie beyond what is visible and tangible, challenging the reader to look deeper into the nature of existence and spirituality.
In practice
This quote can be used in a sermon to illustrate the importance of focusing on spiritual well-being over material wealth.
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?
All men have the stars," he answered, "but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travellers, the stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems. For my businessman they were wealth. But all the stars are silent. You--you alone--will have the stars as no one else has them--
Whats beauty anyway but ugliness if it hurts you?
Money's a horrid thing to follow, but a charming thing to meet.
I have decided not to oppose anyone ever again, since I have noticed that I always end by resembling my latest enemy.
You can't have capitalism without racism.
No sceptical philosopher can ask any questions that may not equally be asked by a tired child on a hot afternoon.
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