The maker of a sentence launches out into the infinite and builds a road into Chaos and old Night, and is followed by those who hear him with something of wild, creative delight.
Interpretation
The act of creating sentences allows writers to explore the unknown and inspire others with their creativity.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote highlights the profound impact of sentence construction as a gateway to imagination and exploration. When a writer embarks on crafting sentences, they venture into uncharted territories of thought and emotion, creating pathways that others can follow and find joy in the creative process. This act not only showcases the beauty of language but also ignites a sense of wonder and inspiration in those who engage with it.
In practice
In a speech about the power of literature, one might quote Emerson to emphasize the role of writers as explorers.
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?
So I write melodies - thirty, forty, fifty - then I cast them off until I have just two or three. If only one is needed, I go see the director and ask him to decide.
There is poetry even in prose, in all the great prose which is not merely utilitarian or didactic: there exist poets who write in prose or at least in more or less apparent prose; millions of poets write verses which have no connection with poetry.
If I'm going to be anything more than average, if anyone is going to remember me, then I need to go further, in art, in life, in everything!
Just as there is no substitute for original works of art, there is no substitute for the world of direct sensual experience.
The essence of interior design will always be about people and how they live.
If I have any regrets, I could say that I'm sorry I wasn't a better writer or a better singer.
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