If we look back into our history books, the only people who ever made it in happened to have an unique story weaved by their own hands. They stated what they wanted, acted upon their mere ideas and made their listeners sit in query wondering what should be done, or if it was factual or if they should find out on their own. Explorers who took the unknown sail were questioned, however they later had landmarks named after them and will never be forgotten. Athletes put forth strenuous workouts, follow through with nutrition plans and are stuck to a very tight schedule. We may question why but the real question is why do we question it is what has attached us to them and grown our curiousity. Our countries leaders have never had full support, but they are leading millions and most have still come out with at least some positive feedback. Our previous presidents and countries have had to cope with the publics lack of respect and support and have yet achieved greatness. It is the same for any singers, actors, writers. They have achieved greatness and through this process have been thoroughly misunderstood by thousands. If it weren't for creative actions these figures would no longer be remembered, it was in their distitution that has escorted them down the path of true greatness.
Lavender's AP Lit Class Blog
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
To be Great is to be misunderstood- Self reliance.
To be great, marks you in history for a well deserved job finished at a top notch level. The only people who have ever meant anything are those who are the hardest to be comprehended. Emmerson once said, " to be great is to be misunderstood. This statement is why there is such a distinction between people, classes, races and religion. So many people disagree with one another but those who are actually, have put forth an extreme effort to become someone. and have been questioned along the way. They were different, they did not fill any normalities and strived to create a very original story. Each one of us clearly has individual thoughts and understands each scenario differently. Every time we do one thing at least one person will disagree or not grasp why we have done something in such a manner. The only way to obtain a true personality is to not fit into the norm and discover who we are through experiences , nature, actions and living to our beat of our drum.
Emerson quote
"I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or parcel of God."
Here Emerson describes his experience as the transparent eyeball. He is able to see everything as he is part of the "Universal Being", or God. This reminds me a lot of how in Divinity School Address he tells everyone they can be Jesus or even God. This is his experience as being God that he formulates his logic in Divinity School Address around. Also in Nature he says anyone can have this experience if they can get past knowing they are perceiving something. This is where the whole transparent eyeball comes into play because he can see everything without knowing he is seeing it. This wild experience is what he bases his views on life on, so it is central to all his ideas after his spiritual crisis. I actually think his spiritual crisis led up to him having this experience because if he still believed in his religion no sort of idea like this would have come to him. Emerson would not have been out in nature and had this experience that shaped his new philosophy if his old one was still intact.
Here Emerson describes his experience as the transparent eyeball. He is able to see everything as he is part of the "Universal Being", or God. This reminds me a lot of how in Divinity School Address he tells everyone they can be Jesus or even God. This is his experience as being God that he formulates his logic in Divinity School Address around. Also in Nature he says anyone can have this experience if they can get past knowing they are perceiving something. This is where the whole transparent eyeball comes into play because he can see everything without knowing he is seeing it. This wild experience is what he bases his views on life on, so it is central to all his ideas after his spiritual crisis. I actually think his spiritual crisis led up to him having this experience because if he still believed in his religion no sort of idea like this would have come to him. Emerson would not have been out in nature and had this experience that shaped his new philosophy if his old one was still intact.
Emerson Quote
"Nature never wears a mean appearance." ---Nature
When I read this quote in Nature, it immediately caught my attention. It was the only quote that stuck with me after reading both Emerson pieces. The first thought that came to my mind, was natural disasters. They are a part of nature, and they are definitely a mean appearance. They cause more destruction and deaths than almost anything else. Then, I looked at the quote from a different perspective. Nature doesn't have any control, human are the mean appearance. They exploit nature for their own needs. Also, nature is rarely ugly. It is green, grows, gives us forests and coral reefs. Nature is everywhere we go, and it does almost anything we want it too. Nature has only boosted our lives, and therefore never gives off a mean appearance, we manipulate it.
When I read this quote in Nature, it immediately caught my attention. It was the only quote that stuck with me after reading both Emerson pieces. The first thought that came to my mind, was natural disasters. They are a part of nature, and they are definitely a mean appearance. They cause more destruction and deaths than almost anything else. Then, I looked at the quote from a different perspective. Nature doesn't have any control, human are the mean appearance. They exploit nature for their own needs. Also, nature is rarely ugly. It is green, grows, gives us forests and coral reefs. Nature is everywhere we go, and it does almost anything we want it too. Nature has only boosted our lives, and therefore never gives off a mean appearance, we manipulate it.
Emerson Quote Self-Reliance
"Familiar as the voice of the mind is to each, the highest merit we ascribe to Moses, Plato, and Milton is that they set at naught books and traditions, and spoke not what men, but what they thought." I really love this quote. We do all have our own head voice that is our thought, each unique and familiar to the person. And the highest of minds listen to these voices, not the ones of others. It makes me happy, I don't know why really, this quote just makes me feel happy in some way. I guess it reminds me that even though we may not speak up all the time, we always have the voice to do so. Here is a little challenge, try reading something without your head voice speaking it.
"Envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide."
For man to give up his individuality, his uniqueness, is for him to give up his life and his opportunity to grow in society. Sure, it is natural for humans to envy one another, whether for their abilities, possessions, or character. Emerson says envy is ignorance to reiterate the idea that man does not know his full potential until he is placed in a situation where his best is demanded. I agree with this thought of being jealous only because it is man's nature to never be fully satisfied with himself and his work. Yet it is never right to try and be like someone else because of envy you have for them. Endeavoring to conform to another character is like throwing your soul away, giving up everything inside you to only be the mediocre version of someone else. Emerson says emulating someone else is suicide; It is killing your soul and inner conscience to mold to society. Individuality is the greatest power man possesses and he should never attempt to imitate someone else because he will only futher lose himself.
For man to give up his individuality, his uniqueness, is for him to give up his life and his opportunity to grow in society. Sure, it is natural for humans to envy one another, whether for their abilities, possessions, or character. Emerson says envy is ignorance to reiterate the idea that man does not know his full potential until he is placed in a situation where his best is demanded. I agree with this thought of being jealous only because it is man's nature to never be fully satisfied with himself and his work. Yet it is never right to try and be like someone else because of envy you have for them. Endeavoring to conform to another character is like throwing your soul away, giving up everything inside you to only be the mediocre version of someone else. Emerson says emulating someone else is suicide; It is killing your soul and inner conscience to mold to society. Individuality is the greatest power man possesses and he should never attempt to imitate someone else because he will only futher lose himself.
"If a man is at hart just, then in so far is he God; the safety of God, the immortality of God, the majesty of God do enter into that man with justice."
Any one can be good and pure at hart. To be good and pure is to be God. This is saying that you can find God within yourself. You dont need a church or a minister, Emerson says to the graduating class of ministers.
Any one can be good and pure at hart. To be good and pure is to be God. This is saying that you can find God within yourself. You dont need a church or a minister, Emerson says to the graduating class of ministers.
Child Baubles Toys
"The child admists, is learning the action of light, motion, gravity, muscular force; and in the game of human life, love, fear, justice, appetite, man, and God interact. These laws refuse to be adequatley stated. They will not be written out on paper, or spoken by the tongue. They elude our persevering thought; yet we read them hourly in each other's faces, in each other's actions, in our own remorse."
Experience is taken for granted. As the average student sits in the classroom only thinking of getting out and looking out. Sitting day in and day out learning about other's experience's but not confronting the experience face to face; by just living our lives. Emerson is stating that we learn everything we learn just by experiencing life. We move through life with mistakes, decisions, and best of all choices. The human society has put us into buildings for just to observe others that are living not wasting. So let's create our own stories, have our own experiences, and learn from it all and not from others.
Experience is taken for granted. As the average student sits in the classroom only thinking of getting out and looking out. Sitting day in and day out learning about other's experience's but not confronting the experience face to face; by just living our lives. Emerson is stating that we learn everything we learn just by experiencing life. We move through life with mistakes, decisions, and best of all choices. The human society has put us into buildings for just to observe others that are living not wasting. So let's create our own stories, have our own experiences, and learn from it all and not from others.
Emerson Quote
"The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child."
I think that this is a pretty acurate statement from Emerson. Children have the ability to stay young and appreciate everything they see. everything amuses them because it is all so new. they dont everything so they learn everyday as they play. you can see it in a childs eye and heart how life affects them positively.
I think that this is a pretty acurate statement from Emerson. Children have the ability to stay young and appreciate everything they see. everything amuses them because it is all so new. they dont everything so they learn everyday as they play. you can see it in a childs eye and heart how life affects them positively.
Emerson quote
"If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown."
We are used to seeing the stars pretty much every night, not taking in the mystery and miracle that they are. Thinking about how we would react if the stars only came out once every thousand years is what Emerson does. I think humankind would be scared and think something wrong was happening instead of being in awe. It's human nature to be scared of the unknown.
We are used to seeing the stars pretty much every night, not taking in the mystery and miracle that they are. Thinking about how we would react if the stars only came out once every thousand years is what Emerson does. I think humankind would be scared and think something wrong was happening instead of being in awe. It's human nature to be scared of the unknown.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"There is a property on the horizon which no man has but he whose eye can integrate all the parts, that is, the poet."
Poets have a wide eye, or a wider perspective of life. People see the same object differently. For example the blue that I see may be your green but we both call it Blue because every one else does. But the eye of a poet sees it how it originally was. Poetry is about nature and nature is always different, but it cannot be wrong. When we speak of nature we speak in a poetical sense. hwen he says integrate he means; that john could own one plot of land, smith, bob, and the government own other plots of land. They are all working separately. Only the poet can integrate them all together.
Also, does a tree make a noise if no one is there to hear it?????
Poets have a wide eye, or a wider perspective of life. People see the same object differently. For example the blue that I see may be your green but we both call it Blue because every one else does. But the eye of a poet sees it how it originally was. Poetry is about nature and nature is always different, but it cannot be wrong. When we speak of nature we speak in a poetical sense. hwen he says integrate he means; that john could own one plot of land, smith, bob, and the government own other plots of land. They are all working separately. Only the poet can integrate them all together.
Also, does a tree make a noise if no one is there to hear it?????
Emerson in Nature
"God and nature face to face; we, through their eyes." Emerson believed that the present generations do not have integrity and that we just pay attention to the past generation. We write about the past and focus on what has been, instead of what is. We are trying to find the answers of life through the past, but truly we can find everything we need from the present. We don't need the past to answer questions, we need to look within and find new, better, and different answers. Why look back, when we can create original ideas? We can do better than the past, and I agree with that. I agree that we need to stop looking to the past to find what we believe or know, and we need to look ahead. We can create so much more amazing things when we look forward, like technology and philosophy, instead of ploughing history into our brains and saying that those ideas are more important or better than today's ideas. In history's respect, I also believe that there are things that we can learn from the past, but those ideas are not as important as new ones that we can create on our own. Emerson was very intelligent and I believe this quote sums up his main ideas that I completely agree with.
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