For, the sense of being which in calm hours rises, we know not how, in the soul, is not diverse from things, from space, from light, from time, from man, but one with them, and proceeds obviously from the same source whence their life and being also proceed. We first share the life by which things exist, and afterwards see them as appearances in nature, and forget that we have shared their cause. Here is the fountain of action and of thought.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the interconnectedness of all existence and the shared essence that underlies both things and human perception.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote highlights the profound connection between the human soul and the universe. He suggests that in moments of tranquility, we become aware of our unity with all forms of existence—things, light, time, and even humanity itself. This awareness reveals that our perceptions of the world are mere appearances, masking the fundamental cause that gives life to everything. Emerson proposes that the source of our thoughts and actions is intertwined with the essence of the universe.
In practice
In a lecture on existentialism, you might quote Emerson to illustrate the shared essence of all beings.
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?
No Man has a more perfect reliance on the all-wise and powerful dispensations of the Supreme Being than I have, nor thinks his aid more necessary...The man must be bad indeed who can look upon the events of the American Revolution without feeling the warmest gratitude towards the great Author of the Universe whose divine interposition was so frequently manifested in our behalf....In war He directed the sword, and in peace, He has ruled in our councils.
We cannot talk simultaneously about animal rights and the 'humane' slaughter of animals.
How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.
The country was in peril; he was jeopardizing his traditional rights of freedom and independence by daring to exercise them.
Sometimes the very presence of God is barred by our presuppositions and our intense and constant desire for triumph.
Faith is the choice of the nobler hypothesis.' Not the noblest, one never knows what that is. But the nobler, the best one can see when the choice is made.
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