In the great books of India, an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence, which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the questions that exercise us.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the profound wisdom found in ancient Indian literature, suggesting it addresses enduring human questions with depth and clarity.
Ralph Waldo Emerson highlights the significance of India's great literary works, portraying them as a voice of an ancient intelligence that grapples with profound philosophical questions. He suggests that these texts offer timeless insights into human existence, reflecting larger truths that transcend their historical and cultural contexts, thereby providing readers with guidance and perspective on the complexities of life.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of literature in understanding culture, one might reference Emerson's insights.
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?
You know, that might be the answer - to act boastfully about something we ought to be ashamed of. That's a trick that never seems to fail.
It was by one Union that we achieved our independence and liberties, and by it alone can they be maintained.
Every one must act according to the dictates of his own reason, and mine tells me that civil powers alone have been given to the President of the United States, and no authority to direct the religious exercises of his constituents.
My words are the garment of what I shall never be Like the tucked sleeve of a one-armed boy.
Those who invest in South Africa should not think they are doing us a favor; they are here for what they get out of our cheap and abundant labor, and they should know that they are buttressing one of the most vicious systems.
Hypocrisy is wretched because the hypocrite says with his tongue what is not in his heart. He wrongs his tongue and oppresses his heart. But if the heart is sound, the condition of the tongue follows suit. We are commanded to be upright in speech, which is a gauge of the heart's state.
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