Conclusion
n
Note: The title
"Conclusion" is written in pencil in the original version, in ink in the fair
copy, at the top of the leaf containing Conclusion 1. (R. Clapper)
TO THE sick the doctors wisely recommend a change of air and scenery. Thank
Heaven, here is not all the world. The buck-eye does not grow in New England, and
the
mocking-bird is rarely heard here. The wild- goose is more of a cosmopolite than we;
he breaks his fast in Canada, takes a luncheon in the
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Revision note: F1: Susquehanna
Susquehanna
Ohio
Ohio
Ohio
, and plumes himself for the night in a
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Louisiana
southern
southern
southern
bayou. Even the bison, to some extent, keeps pace with the seasons, cropping
the pastures of the Colorado only till a greener and sweeter grass awaits him by the
Yellowstone. Yet we think that if rail-fences are pulled down, and stone-walls
set up
built up
piled up
piled up
piled up
on our farms, bounds are henceforth set to our lives and our fates decided. If
you are chosen town-clerk, forsooth, you cannot go to Tierra del Fuego this summer:
but you may go to the land of infernal fire nevertheless.
but you may go to the land of infernal fire nevertheless.
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Even
True the universe is wider than our views of
it
True, the universe is wider than our views of it
The universe is wider than our views of it
The universe is wider than our views of it
.
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Revision note: F1: But
But
Yet
Yet
Yet
we should oftener look
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off from
over the tafferel of
over the tafferel of
over the tafferel of
our craft, like curious passengers, and not make the voyage like stupid
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weather picking oakum
sailors picking oakum, who rarely look over the
tafferel
sailors picking oakum
sailors picking oakum
. The other side of the globe is but the home of our correspondent.
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It
Our voyaging
Our voyaging
Our voyaging
is only great-circle sailing, and the doctors prescribe for diseases of the
skin merely. One hastens to Southern Africa to chase the giraffe; but surely that
is
not the game he would be after. How long, pray, would a man hunt giraffes if he
could? Snipes and woodcocks also may afford rare sport; but
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would it not
it would
I trust it would
I trust it would
I trust it would
be nobler game to shoot one’s self.—
"Direct your eye sight inward, and you’ll find
A thousand regions in your mind
Yet undiscovered. Travel them, and be
Expert in home-cosmography."
What does Africa,—what does the
West stand for? Is not our own interior white on the chart? black though it may
prove, like the coast, when discovered. Is it the source of the Nile, or the Niger,
or the Mississippi, or a North-West Passage around this
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globe
continent
continent
continent
, that we would find? Are these the problems
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that
which
which
which
most concern mankind? Is Franklin the only man
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that
who
who
who
is lost,
that his wife should be so earnest to find
him?
that his wife should be so earnest to find him?
that his wife should be so earnest to find him?
Does Mr. Grinnell know where he
himself
himself
himself
is? Be rather the Mungo Park, the Lewis and Clark and Frobisher, of your own
streams and oceans; explore your own higher latitudes,—
with shiploads of preserved meats to support
you,
with shiploads of preserved meats to support you
with shiploads of preserved meats to support you
,
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Revision note: F1: if it be necessary
if it
they be necessary and pile the empty meat cans
sky-high for a sign to guide your successors. Were preserved
meats invented to preserve meat merely?
if they be necessary; and pile the empty cans sky-high for a sign. Were
preserved meats invented to preserve meat merely?
if they be necessary; and pile the empty cans sky-high for a sign. Were
preserved meats invented to preserve meat merely?
Nay, be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new
channels, not of trade, but of thought. Every man is the lord of a realm beside which
the earthly empire of the Czar is but a petty state,
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Revision note: F1:
a hummock left by the ice.
a hummock left by the ice
a hummock left by the ice
. Yet some can be patriotic who have no
self
-respect,
sacrificing
& sacrifice
and sacrifice
and sacrifice
the greater to the less.
They , as it were,
They
They
love the soil
that
which
which
which
makes their graves, but have no sympathy with the spirit
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that may still animate
which animates
which animates
may still animate
which may still animate
which may still animate
their clay.
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Patriotism is a maggot in their heads. They are not so patriotic as
their forefathers in the churchyard.
Patriotism is a maggot in their heads.
Patriotism is a maggot in their heads.
What was the meaning of that
South-Sea
South-Sea
South-Sea
Exploring Expedition, with all its parade and expense, but an indirect
recognition of the fact, that there are continents and seas in the moral world, to
which every man is an isthmus or an inlet, yet unexplored by him, but that it is
easier to sail many thousand miles through cold and storm and
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savage cannibals
cannibals
cannibals
, in a government ship, with five hundred men and boys to assist one, than it
is to explore the private sea, the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean of one’s being alone.—
"Erret, et extremos alter scrutetur Iberos.
lus habet hic vitæ, plus habet ille viæ."
Let them wander and scrutinize the outlandish Australians.
I have more of God, they more of the road. It is not worth the while to go
round the world to count the cats in Zanzibar.
However
Yet
Yet
Yet
do this even till you can do better, and you may perhaps find some "Symmes’
Hole" by which to get at the inside
at last.
at last.
England and France, Spain and Portugal, Gold Coast and Slave Coast, all front
on this private sea; but no bark from them has ventured out of sight of land, though
it is without doubt the direct way to India. If you would learn to speak all tongues
and conform to the customs of all nations, if you would travel farther than all
travellers, be naturalized in all
climes, vanquish all the chimeras
climes,
climes,
and cause the Sphinx
go
to
to
to
dash her bead against a stone,
obey the precept of the old philosopher &
know
even obey the precept of the old philosopher, and Explore
even obey the precept of the old philosopher, and Explore
thyself. Herein are demanded the eye and the nerve. Only the defeated and
deserters go to the wars, cowards that run away and enlist.
Start now on that farthest western way, which does not
pause at the Mississippi or the Pacific, nor conduct toward a worn-out China
or Japan, but leads on direct a tangent to this sphere, summer and winter,
day and night, sun down, moon down, and at last earth down too.
Start now on that farthest western way, which does not pause at the
Mississippi or the Pacific, nor conduct toward a worn-out China or Japan, but
leads on direct a tangent to this sphere, summer and winter, day and night, sun
down, moon down, and at last earth down too.
Start now on that farthest western way, which does not pause at the
Mississippi or the Pacific, nor conduct toward a worn-out China or Japan, but
leads on direct a tangent to this sphere, summer and winter, day and night, sun
down, moon down, and at last earth down too.
It is said that Mirabeau took to highway robbery
"to ascertain what
degree of resolution was necessary in order to place one’s self in formal
opposition to the most sacred laws of society."
He declared that
"a
soldier who fights in the ranks does not require half so much courage as a
foot-pad,"
—
"that honor and religion have never stood in the way of
a well-considered and a firm
resolve." "Tell me, Du Saillant," said he, "when you
lead your regiment into the heat of battle, to conquer a province to
which he whom you call your master has no right whatever, do you consider
that you are performing a better action than mine, in stopping your
friend on the king’s highway, and demanding his purse?"—"I obey without
reasoning," replied the count. "And I reason without obeying, when
obedience appears to me contrary to reason," rejoined Mirabeau
resolve."
resolve."
This was
even manly
manly
manly
, as the world goes; and yet it was idle, if not desperate. A saner man would
have found himself often enough "in formal opposition" to
what are deemed
what are deemed
"the most sacred laws of society," through obedience to yet more sacred laws,
and so have tested his
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resolution in the natural course of events
resolution
resolution
without going out of his way. It is not for a man to put himself in such an
attitude to society, but to maintain himself in whatever attitude he find himself
through obedience to the laws of his being, which will never be one of opposition
to
a just government, if he should chance to meet with
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We would not have a rabid virtue that will be
revenged on society, and descends on it, not like the morning dew to refresh
it, but like the fervid noon-day sun to wither it
any such. We would not have a rabid virtue that will be
revenged on society, and descends on it, not like the morning dew to refresh
it, but like the fervid noon-day sun to wither it
such.
such.
If any
the reader think that I am vain glorious and set
myself up above others, I assure them
him that I could tell a pitiful story respecting
myself as well as them
him, if my spirits held out. I could
encourage them
him with a sufficient list of failures, and flow
as humbly as the very gutters. I think worse of myself than
they can possibly
he is likely to think of me, and better too
perchance, being better acquainted with the man. And finally I will
tell them
him this secret, if they
he will not abuse my confidence—I put the best
face on the matter. I
I
I
left the woods for
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the same reason that
as good a reason as
as good a reason as
as good a reason as
I went there.
Perhaps it seemed to me , perchance,
Perhaps it seemed to me
Perhaps it seemed to me
that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for
that one. It is
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astonishing
remarkable
remarkable
remarkable
how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten
track for ourselves. I had not lived there
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there a week at the pond
a week
a week
before my feet wore a path from my door to the pond-side;
and now though
and though
and though
it is five or six years since
it was trodden by me
I trod it
I trod it
I trod it
, it is
still
still
still
quite distinct.
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so hard is it to obliterate, and, beside
True
It is True
It is true
It is true
, I fear that others may have fallen into
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it since
it
it
,
and so helped to keep it open
and so helped to keep it open
and so helped to keep it open
. The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men;
and so is it
and so
and so
with the paths which the mind travels. How worn and dusty, then, must be the
highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and
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convention
conformity
conformity
conformity
! I
did not wish for a ticket to the boxes, nor
had wished not to take a cabin passage . I
will rather
but rather to
did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather
did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather
to go before the mast and on the deck of the world,
I have no desire to go abaft the engine for here I shall
there I could
for there
for there
I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains.
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I do not wish to go below now.
I do not wish to go below now
I do not wish to go below now
.
I learned this,
at least by my experiment in the woods, of
more value perhaps than all the rest
at least, by my experiment
at least, by my experiment
at least, by my experiment
: that if one advances
confidently but without willfulness
though merely
though only
confidently , but without willfulness, though only
confidently
confidently
in the direction of his dreams, and
lives
endeavors to live
endeavors to live
endeavors to live
endeavors to live
the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success
wholly
quite unexpected in common hours, and the result
will in a measure miraculously answer to his
faith
quite unexpected in common hours , and the result will in a
measure, miraculously answer to his faith
unexpected in common hours
unexpected in common hours
. He will put some things
behind him; he
behind,
behind,
behind,
will pass an invisible boundary; new,
more universal &
more universal, and more
universal, and more
universal, and more
liberal laws will
begin silently to
begin silently to
begin to
begin to
establish themselves around and within
him; heaven lie about him in his manhood even
him; heaven lie about him in his manhood even
him;
him;
or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a
larger & more
larger and more
more
more
liberal sense, and he will
live to a certain extent
live , to a certain extent,
live
live
with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he
has simplified
simplifies
simplifies
simplifies
simplifies
his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex,
and
and
and
solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness.
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is
where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is
where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is
where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
It is a ridiculous demand which England and America make,
that you shall speak so that they can understand you.
Neither men nor toad-stools grow so
Neither men nor toad-stools grow so
Neither men nor toad-stools grow so
. As if that were important, and there were not enough to understand you
without
them.
All joy that surpasseth their understanding they note to be a
bore
them.
them.
As if Nature
could support but one order of understandings,
could support but one order of understandings,
could not sustain birds as well as quadrupeds, flying as well as creeping
things,
and
as if
and hush
and hush
and
who
, which Bright can understand, were
the best
English , and the truest and most thrilling biography
were written in the day-book and ledger. If ours is not to be the sleep
of gods & infants, give me him for a companion who has the most
beautiful dreams. If you are comprehended by one sane mind it is more
than enough
English
English
.
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If
&
&
As if
As if
As if
there were safety in stupidity
alone , and in this world of dreamers, the dullest
dreamer who merely snores responsive to the level of his bed-fellows’
slumbering understandings, were the best fellow & the wisest
alone
alone
.
I fear
only
chiefly
chiefly
lest my expression may not be
extra- vagant
enough, may not wander far enough beyond the narrow limits of my daily experience,
so as to be adequate to the truth of which I have been convinced.
Extra vagance!
it depends
upon
on
on
how you are yarded. The migrating buffalo, which seeks new pastures in
another latitude, is not
so extravagant as
like
extravagant like
the cow which kicks over the pail, leaps the cow-yard fence, and runs after
her calf, in milking time. I desire to speak somewhere
without
bounds; like a man in a waking moment, to men in their waking
moments; for I am convinced that I cannot exaggerate enough even to lay the
foundation of a true expression. Who that has heard a strain of music feared
that
then lest
then lest
he should speak extravagantly any more forever? In view of the future or
possible, we should live quite laxly and undefined in front, our outlines dim and
shadowy
misty
misty
on that side; as
the shadow of objects reveals
our shadows reveal
our shadows reveal
an insensible perspiration toward the sun. The volatile truth of our words
should continually betray the inadequacy of the residual
statement. Look not into the ashes for the sublimate.
Shall our words never be vague, misty, smoking like censers,
significant and fragrant to those above, and adequate to the faith &
piety of those below?
statement.
Their truth is instantly
translated
; its
literal monument alone remains. The words which express our faith and piety are
not definite; yet they are significant and fragrant like frankincense to superior
natures.
Why level downward to our dullest perception always, and
praise that
for
as
for
as
as
common sense? The commonest sense is the sense of men asleep, which they
express by snoring. Sometimes
we
men
we
we
we
are inclined to class those who are once-and-a-half witted with the
half-witted, because
we
they
we
we
we
appreciate only a third part of their wit.
How could we do without the mystics even? As well do without chemistry
or the morning-red.
Some would find fault with the morning-red if they
ever got up early enough
Some would find fault with the morning-red, if they ever got up early
enough
Some would find fault with the morning-red, if they ever got up early
enough
.
"They pretend,"
as I hear,
as I hear,
"that the verses of Kabir have four different senses; illusion, spirit,
intellect, and the exoteric doctrine of the Vedas:" but in this part of the world
it is considered a ground
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of offense
for complaint
for complaint
for complaint
if a man’s writings admit of more than one interpretation.
While England endeavors to cure the potato-rot, will not any endeavor to
cure the brain-rot, which prevails
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to so alarming an extent
so much more widely & fatally
so much more widely and fatally
so much more widely and fatally
?
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Let me not suppose
I do not imagine
I do not imagine
suppose
I do not suppose
I do not suppose
that I have attained to obscurity,
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my shallow meaning is but too clear. Nevertheless
But I should be glad
but I should be glad
proud
but I should be proud
but I should be proud
if no more fatal fault were found with my pages on this score than was
found with the Walden ice.
I was told that southern
I was told that southern
Southern
Southern
customers objected to its blue color,
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Revision note: F1:
which is evidence of its purity,
which is evidence of its purity,
as if it were muddy, and preferred the
Fresh Pond
Fresh Pond
Cambridge
Cambridge
Cambridge
ice, which is white, but tastes of weeds. The purity men love is
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like
like
like
the mists which envelop the earth, and not like the
pure
azure
azure
azure
azure
ether beyond.
If the reader thinks that I am vain glorious & set myself
above others, I assure him that I can
could tell a pitiful story respecting myself as well as him, if my
spirits held out, could encourage him with a sufficient list of failures, and
flow as humbly as the gutters. I think worse of myself than he is likely to
think of me, and better too perchance being better acquainted with the man.
Finally, I will tell him this secret, if he will not abuse my confidence—I put
the best face on the matter. Though you are a fungus you are still required to
emit the sweetest odor that you can. Some
Some
Some
are dinning in our ears that we Americans, and moderns generally, are
intellectual dwarfs compared with the ancients,
or even with
or even
or even
the Elizabethan men. But what is that to the purpose? A living dog is better
than a dead lion. Shall a man go and hang himself because he belongs to the race of
pygmies, and not be the biggest pygmy that he can? Let every
man
one
one
mind his own business, and endeavor to be what he was made.
Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate
enterprises? If a man does not keep
step
pace
pace
with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let
a man
him
him
him
step to the music which he hears, however measured
and however
or
or
or
far away. It is not important that he should mature as soon as an apple-tree
or an oak. Shall he turn his spring
to
into
into
into
summer? If the condition of things
which
which
which
we were made for is not yet, what were any reality which we can substitute? We
will not be shipwrecked on a vain reality. Shall we with pains erect a heaven of blue
glass over ourselves, though when it is done we shall be sure to gaze still at the
true ethereal heaven far above, as if the former were not?
There was an
artist who lived
artistwho lived
artist
artist
artist
in the city of Kouroo who was
truly disposed
trulydisposed
disposed
disposed
disposed
to strive after perfection. One day it came into his
head
head
mind
mind
mind
mind
to make a staff. Having considered that in an imperfect work time is an
ingredient, but into a perfect work time does not enter, he said to himself, It shall
be perfect in all respects, though I should do nothing else in
all my
allmy
my
my
my
life. He proceeded instantly to the forest for
material
wood
wood
wood
wood
wood
, being
determined
determined
resolved
resolved
resolved
resolved
that it should not be made of unsuitable
wood
material
material
material
material
material
; and as he searched
for
for
for
for
and rejected stick after stick, his friends gradually deserted him, for they
grew old in their works and died,
but still
butstill
but
but
but
he grew not older by a moment. His singleness of purpose and resolution, and
his elevated piety, endowed him, without his knowledge, with perennial youth. As he
made no compromise with Time, Time kept out of his way, and only sighed at a distance
to think that
to think that
because
because
because
because
he could not overcome him. Before he had found a stock in all respects
suitable the city of Kouroo was a hoary ruin, and he sat on one of its mounds to peel
the stick. Before he had given it the proper shape the dynasty of the Candahars was
at an end, and with the
smaller end
smaller end
point
point
point
point
of the stick he wrote the name of the last of that race in the sand, and then
resumed his work. By the time he had smoothed and polished the staff Kalpa was no
longer the
north star
north star
pole-star
pole-star
pole-star
pole-star
; and ere he had put on the ferrule and the head adorned with precious stones,
Brahma had awoke and slumbered many times. But why do I stay to mention these things?
When the finishing stroke was put to his work, it suddenly expanded before the eyes
of the astonished artist into the fairest of all the creations of Brahma. He had made
a new
universe
universe
system
system
system
system
in making a staff, a world with fun and fair proportions; in which, though the
old cities and dynasties had passed away, fairer and more glorious ones had taken
their places. And now he saw by the heap of shavings still fresh at his feet, that,
for him and his work, the former lapse of time had been an illusion, and that no more
time had elapsed than is required for a single scintillation from the brain of Brahma
to fall on and inflame the tinder of a mortal brain. The material was pure, and his
art was pure;
and how then
how
how
how
how
could the result be
otherwise
otherwise
otherwise
other
other
than wonderful?
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Revision note: D1:
We forget to be true in all our positions & relations. No
face of the
No face of
which we can give to
the
a
No face which we can give to a
No face which we can give to a
No face which we can give to a
No face which we can give to a
matter will stead us so well at last
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Revision note: D1: as just
as just
as
as
as
as
the truth.
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Revision note: D1: Truth is like the stuff called everlasting, it will
wear
Truth is like the stuff called everlasting, it
This alone wears well
This alone wears
This alone wears
This alone wears
This alone wears
well.
Some men are never where they
For the most part we are not where we
For the most part, we are not where we
For the most part, we are not where we
For the most part, we are not where we
For the most part, we are not where we
are, but in a false position.
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Revision note: D1: By an infirmity of their
our natures, they
we suppose a case & put themselves into
it, and hence they
we are in two cases, the actual & the
supposed, at the same time, which is to be in a dilemma
By an infirmity of our natures, we suppose a case and put
ourselves into it, and hence we are in two cases , the
actual and the supposed at the same time, which is to be in a
dilemma,
Through an infirmity of our natures, we suppose a case, and put ourselves
into it, and hence are in two cases at the same time,
Through an infirmity of our natures, we suppose a case, and put ourselves
into it, and hence are in two cases at the same time,
Through an infirmity of our natures, we suppose a case, and put ourselves
into it, and hence are in two cases at the same time,
Through an infirmity of our natures, we suppose a case, and put ourselves
into it, and hence are in two cases at the same time,
and it is doubly difficult to get out.
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A few
In healthy & true men
moments we
In healthy and true
sane moments we
In sane moments we
In sane moments we
In sane moments we
In sane moments we
regard only the facts, the case that is.
Say what you have to say, not what you ought. Any truth is
presentable
better than make-believe
better than make-believe.
better than make-believe.
Tom Hyde, the tinker, standing on the gallows, was asked if he had any
thing to say. "Tell the tailors," said he, "to remember to make a knot in their
thread before they take the first stitch." His companion’s prayer is forgotten.
However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun
it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as you are. It looks poorest when you
are richest. The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise. Love your life,
poor as it is. You may
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Revision note: D1: perchance
perchance
perhaps
perhaps
perhaps
perhaps
perhaps
have some pleasant, thrilling, glorious hours, even in a poor-house. The
setting sun is reflected from the windows of the alms-house as brightly as from
the rich man’s abode; the snow melts before its door as early in the spring. I do
not see but a quiet mind may live as contentedly there, and have as cheering
thoughts, as in a palace. The town’s poor seem to me often to live the most
independent lives of any.
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Revision note: D1:
Perchance
Perchance
May be
May be
May be
May be
May be
they are simply great enough to receive without misgiving. Most think that
they are above being supported by the town; but it oftener happens that they are
not above supporting themselves by dishonest means, which should be more
disreputable. Cultivate poverty like a garden herb, like sage. Do not trouble
yourself
r
Revision note: D1:
much
much
much
much
much
to get new things, whether clothes or
r
Revision note: D1: friends. There is dissipation in it
friends. There is dissipation in it
friends.
friends.
friends.
friends.
Turn the old; return to them. Things do not change; we change.
Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. God will see that you do not
want society
Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. God will see that you do not
want society
Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. God will see that you do not
want society
Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. God will see that you do not
want society
Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. God will see that you do not
want society
. If I were confined to a corner of a garret all my days, like a spider, the
world would be just as large to me while I had my thoughts about me.
Confucius says
The philosopher said
The philosopher said
The philosopher said
The philosopher said
The philosopher said
: "From an army of three divisions one can take away its general, and put it
in disorder; from the man the most abject and vulgar one cannot take away his
thought." Do not seek
so anxiously
so anxiously
so anxiously
so anxiously
to be developed, to subject yourself to many influences to be played on; it
is all dissipation. Humility like darkness reveals the heavenly lights. The
shadows of poverty and meanness gather around us, "and lo! creation widens to our
view."
I am
We are
We are
We are
often reminded that if there were bestowed on
me
us
us
us
the wealth of Crœsus,
my
our
our
our
aims must still be the same, and
my
our
our
our
means essentially the same. Moreover, if you are restricted in your range
by poverty, if you cannot buy books and newspapers,
for instance
for instance,
for instance,
, you are but confined to the most significant and vital experiences; you
are compelled to deal with the material which yields the most sugar and the most
starch. It is life near the bone where it is sweetest. You are defended from being
a trifler. No man loses ever on a lower level by magnanimity on a higher.
Superfluous wealth can buy superfluities only. Money is not required to buy one
necessary of the soul.
It seems to me
one sometimes that I
I
I
I
I
live in the angle of a leaden wall, into whose composition was poured a little
alloy of bell metal.
Sometimes
Often
Often
Often
Often
Often
, in the repose of
my
his
my
my
my
my
mid-day, there reaches
my
his
my
my
my
my
ears a confused
tintinnabulum
from without. It
is the noise of
my
his
my
my
my
my
contemporaries. My
friends
neighbors
neighbors
neighbors
neighbors
neighbors
tell me of their adventures with famous gentlemen and ladies, what
notabilities they met at the dinner-table; but I am no more interested in such things
than in the contents of the Daily Times. The interest and the conversation
were
are
are
are
are
are
about costume and manners
chiefly;
chiefly;
chiefly;
chiefly;
but a goose is a goose still, dress it as you will. They tell me of California
and Texas, of England and the Indies, of the Hon.
Mr so & so
Mr. ———
Mr. ———
Mr. ———
Mr. ———
of Georgia or of Massachusetts, all transient and fleeting phenomena, till I
am
almost wearied to death
ready to leap from their court-yard like the Mameluke bey
ready to leap from their court-yard like the Mameluke bey
ready to leap from their court-yard like the Mameluke bey
ready to leap from their court-yard like the Mameluke bey
. I delight to come to my bearings,— not walk in procession with pomp and
parade,
in a conspicuous place,
in a conspicuous place
in a conspicuous place
in a conspicuous place
in a conspicuous place
, but to walk
even
even
even
even
with the Builder of the universe,
if I may,
if I may,
if I may,
if I may,
— not to live in this restless, nervous, bustling,
trivial
trivial
trivial
trivial
trivial
Nineteenth Century, but stand or sit thoughtfully while it goes by. What are
men celebrating? They are all on a committee of arrangements, and
hourly
hourly
hourly
hourly
hourly
expect a speech from somebody. God is only the president of the day, and
Webster is his orator. I love to weigh, to settle, to gravitate
to drive toward God or the devil or whoever most
whatever be the name of that which most strongly
attracts, not to
toward that which most strongly and rightfully attracts me;—not
toward that which most strongly and rightfully attracts me;—not
toward that which most strongly and rightfully attracts me;—not
toward that which most strongly and rightfully attracts me;—not
hang by the beam of the scale
and try to weigh less,
and try to weigh less
and try to weigh less
and try to weigh less
and try to weigh less
, —not suppose a case, but take the case that is; to travel the only path I
can, and that on which no power can resist me. It affords me no satisfaction to
commence to spring an arch before I have got a solid foundation. Let us not play at
kittly-benders. There is a solid bottom every where. We read that the traveller asked
the boy if the swamp before him had a hard bottom. The boy replied that it had. But
presently the traveller’s horse sank in up to
his belly
the girths
the girths
the girths
the girths
the girths
, and he observed to the boy, "I thought you said that this bog had a hard
bottom." "So it has,"
said
answered
answered
answered
answered
the latter, "but you have not got half way to it yet." So it is with the bogs
and quicksands of society; but
it’s
he is
he is
he is
he is
an old boy that knows it. Only what is thought said or done at a certain rare
coincidence is good. I would not be one of those who will foolishly drive a nail into
mere lath and plastering; such a deed would keep me awake nights. Give me a hammer,
and let me feel for the furring. Do not depend on the putty. Drive a nail home and
clinch it so faithfully that you can wake up in the night and think of
it
your work
your work
your work
your work
your work
with satisfaction,—
and have God for your abettor
a work
a work
a work
a work
at which you would not be ashamed to invoke the Muse. So will help you God,
and so only. Every nail driven should be as another rivet in the machine of the
universe, you
are carrying
carrying
carrying
carrying
carrying
on the work.
Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. I sat at a table where
were rich food and wine in abundance, and obsequious attendance, but sincerity and
truth were not; and I went away hungry from the inhospitable board. The hospitality
was as cold as the ices. I thought that there was
not
no
no
no
no
need of ice to freeze them. They talked to me of the age of the wine and the
fame of the vintage; but I thought of an older,
and
a newer
a newer
a newer
a newer
a newer
, and purer wine, of a more glorious vintage, which they had not got, and could
not buy.
I might have done better had I called on the man who lived in a hollow
tree. The style, the house & grounds & entertainment pass
comparatively for nothing with me. I called on the king but he
made me wait in his hall, & he conducted as a man incapacitated
for hospitality. The too exquisitely cultivated I avoid as I do the theater.
Their life lacks reality. They offer me wine instead of water. They are
surrounded by things that can be bought. They have
already sold themselves. There was a man in my neighborhood who lived in a
hollow tree. His manners were truly regal. I should have done better had I
called on him
The style, the house and grounds and "entertainment" pass for nothing with
me. I called on the king, but he made me wait in his hall, and conducted like a
man incapacitated for hospitality. There was a man in my neighborhood who lived
in a hollow tree. His manners were truly regal. I should have done better had I
called on him
The style, the house and grounds and "entertainment" pass for nothing with
me. I called on the king, but he made me wait in his hall, and conducted like a
man incapacitated for hospitality. There was a man in my neighborhood who lived
in a hollow tree. His manners were truly regal. I should have done better had I
called on him
The style, the house and grounds and "entertainment" pass for nothing with
me. I called on the king, but he made me wait in his hall, and conducted like a
man incapacitated for hospitality. There was a man in my neighborhood who lived
in a hollow tree. His manners were truly regal. I should have done better had I
called on him
The style, the house and grounds and "entertainment" pass for nothing with
me. I called on the king, but he made me wait in his hall, and conducted like a
man incapacitated for hospitality. There was a man in my neighborhood who lived
in a hollow tree. His manners were truly regal. I should have done better had I
called on him
.
How long shall we sit in our porticoes practising idle and musty virtues,
which any work would make
impertinent or superfluous
& superfluous
impertinent
impertinent
impertinent
? As if one were to begin the day with long-suffering, and hire a man to hoe
his potatoes; and in the afternoon go forth to practise Christian meekness and
humility
charity
charity
charity
charity
with goodness aforethought! Consider the China pride and stagnant
self-complacency of mankind. This generation reclines a little to congratulate itself
on being the last of an illustrious line; and in Boston and London and Paris and
Rome, thinking of its long descent, it speaks of its progress in art and science and
literature with satisfaction.
Consider
There are
There are
There are
There are
the Records of the Philosophical Societies, and the public Eulogies of
Great Men
! It is the good Adam contemplating his own
virtue. "Yes, we have done great deeds, and sung divine songs, which shall never
die,"— that is, as long as we can remember them.
The learned societies and great men of Assyria,—where are they?
This is the world that is too much with us, since we can entertain but one
at a time
The lerned societies & great men of Assyria,—where are they?
The learned societies and great men of Assyria,—where are they?
The learned societies and great men of Assyria,—where are they?
The learned societies and great men of Assyria,—where are they?
What youthful philosophers and experimentalists we are! There is not one of my
readers who has yet lived a whole human life. These
are
may be
may be
may be
may be
but the spring months in the life of the race.
If we have had the seven-years’ itch, we have not seen the seventeen-year
locust yet in Concord
If we have had the seven-years’ itch, we have not seen the seventeen-year
locust yet in Concord
If we have had the seven-years’ itch, we have not seen the seventeen-year
locust yet in Concord
If we have had the seven-years’ itch, we have not seen the seventeen-year
locust yet in Concord
. We are acquainted with a mere pellicle of the globe
on which we live
on which we live
on which we live
on which we live
. Most have not delved six feet beneath the surface, nor leaped as many above
it. We know not where we are.
Beside, we are sound asleep nearly half our time
Beside, we are sound asleep nearly half our time
Beside, we are sound asleep nearly half our time
Beside, we are sound asleep nearly half our time
. Yet we esteem ourselves wise, and have an established order on the surface.
Truly, we are deep thinkers, we are ambitious spirits! As I stand over the insect
crawling amid the
pine needles of the pine
pine needles
pine needles
pine needles
on the forest floor, and endeavoring to conceal itself from my sight, and ask
myself why it will cherish those humble thoughts, and bide its head from me who might
perhaps
perhaps
perhaps
perhaps
be its benefactor, and impart to its race
such
some
some
some
some
cheering information, I am reminded of the greater Benefactor and Intelligence
that stands over me the human insect.
There is an incessant influx of novelty into the world, and yet we tolerate
incredible dulness. I
have
need only to
need only
need only
suggest what kind of sermons are still listened to in the most enlightened
countries. There are such words as joy and sorrow, but they are only the burden of
a
song
psalm
psalm
psalm
, sung with a nasal twang, while we believe in the ordinary and mean. We
suppose
think
think
think
that we can change our clothes only.
We think
It is said
It is said
It is said
that the British Empire is very large and respectable, and that the United
States are a first-rate power.
But we
We
We
do not believe that a tide rises and falls behind every man which can float
the British Empire like a chip,
if he should ever harbor it in his mind
if he should ever harbor it in his mind
if he should ever harbor it in his mind
. Who knows what sort of seventeen-year locust will next come out of the
ground? The government of the world I live in was not framed,
like that of Britain
like that of Britain
like that of Britain
, in after-dinner conversations over the wine.
The life in us is like the water in the river. It may rise this year higher
than
it was
man has ever known to before
it
man has ever known it
man has ever known it
, and flood the parched uplands; even this may be the eventful year,
which will
&
which will
which will
which will
drown out all our muskrats.
It was not always dry land where we dwell
It was not always dry land where we dwell
It was not always dry land where we dwell
.
MethinksI
I
I
see far inland the banks which the stream anciently washed, before science
began to record its freshets. Every one has heard the story which has gone the rounds
of New England, of a strong and beautiful bug which came out of the dry leaf of an
old table of apple-tree wood, which had stood in a farmer’s kitchen for sixty years,
first in Connecticut, and afterward in Massachusetts,—from an egg deposited in the
living tree many years earlier still, as appeared by counting the annual layers
beyond it; which was heard gnawing out for several weeks, hatched perchance by the
heat of an urn. Who does not feel his faith in a resurrection and immortality
strengthened by hearing of this? Who knows what beautiful and winged life, whose egg
has been buried for ages under many concentric layers of woodenness in the dead dry
life of society, deposited at first in the alburnum of the green and living tree,
which has been gradually converted into the semblance of its well-seasoned
tomb,—heard perchance gnawing out now for years by the astonished family of man, as
they sat round the festive board,—may unexpectedly come forth from amidst society’s
most trivial and handselled furniture, to enjoy its perfect summer life at last!
I do not say that John or
Jonathan, that this generation or the next,
Jonathan
Jonathan
will realize all this; but such is the character of that morrow which mere
lapse of time can never make to dawn. The light which puts out our eyes is darkness
to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun
is but a morning star.
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