"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.
I like your comment and how you picked this quote. I agree with your first point about natural disasters being a mean appearance of nature. This is definitely not a part of nature that boosts our lives like you say at the end. Natural disasters are not not caused by human manipulation, I mean they are called natural disasters, not artificial disasters. You seem to sort of forget about them in the end of your post and they don't really factor into your decision in agreeing with the quote. I also agree with nature being rarely ugly, but when it is, such as times like natural disasters, this is what I would call a mean appearance. Personally I would say that nature rarely wears a mean appearance.
ReplyDeleteMallory,
ReplyDeleteAn interesting and very thoughtful post (thanks!), but I wonder if you really have the right sense of "mean" here. It may be that Emerson is using the word to suggest something low or base or ordinary (meaning, of course that Nature is elevated and extraordinary--which of course still prompts your questions: What about natural disaters that seem so negative?)