Of all tools, an observatory is the most sublime. . . . What is so good in a college as an observatory? The sublime attaches to the door and to the first stair you ascent, that this is the road to the stars.
Interpretation
Emerson emphasizes the importance of observation and contemplation in achieving greater knowledge and understanding of the universe.
In this quote, Ralph Waldo Emerson reflects on the profound significance of observatories as tools for enlightenment and exploration. He suggests that an observatory’s purpose transcends mere scientific observation; it embodies the aspiration to reach for the stars and understand the cosmos, making it a sacred space of inquiry. By valuing such institutions, Emerson also highlights the importance of curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge in education, encouraging individuals to seek deeper truths in life.
In practice
In a graduation speech to inspire students to pursue their dreams.
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?
The man that brings ant-infested faggots into his hut should not grumble when lizards begin to pay him a visit.
Why did I want to break all the rules? Because the rules didn’t make sense, that’s why
If the stories come, you get them written, you're on the right track. Eventually everyone learns his or her own best way. The real mystery to crack is you.
We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.
Examine your own hearts. Do you see there any habit or custom which you know is wrong in the sight of God? If you do, don't delay for a moment in attacking it. Resolve at once to lay it aside. Nothing darkens the eyes of the mind so much, and deadens the conscience so surely, as an allowed sin. It may be a little one, but it is not any less dangerous.
Sir Isaac Newton was asked how he discovered the law of gravity. He replied, "By thinking about it all the time.
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