He cumbers himself never about consequences, about interests; he gives an independent, genuine verdict. You must court him: he does not court you. But the man is, as it were, clapped into jail by his consciousness.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of an independent mindset and the burden of self-awareness.
Ralph Waldo Emerson reflects on the intricate balance between independent thought and the constraints imposed by one's own conscience. He suggests that a true thinker does not concern himself with societal approval or the implications of his opinions. However, this independence may lead to a profound inner struggle, as the awareness of one's own thoughts can feel like a form of imprisonment.
In practice
During a discussion on free speech, this quote can illustrate the tension between personal belief and public opinion.
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?
Men honor what lies within the sphere of their knowledge, but do not realize how dependent they are on what lies beyond it.
There are places in the heart that do not yet exist; suffering has to enter in for them to come to be.
She regarded books as the emblems of secret brotherhood. A man with this sort of library couldn't possibly hurt her.
One should be able to control and manipulate experiences with an informed and intelligent mind.
Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say 'infinitely' when you mean 'very'; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.
I have been in Sorrow's kitchen and licked out all the pots. Then I have stood on the peaky mountain wrapped in rainbows, with a harp and sword in my hands.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.