Circles Emerson Quotes

Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another can be drawn; that there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning; that there is always another dawn risen on midnoon, and under every deep a lower deep opens.

The life of man is a self-evolving circle, which, from a ring imperceptibly small, rushes on all sides outwards to new and larger circles, and that without end. The extent to which this generation of circles, wheel without wheel, will go, depends on the force or truth of the individual soul.

I am only an experimenter. Do not set the least value on what I do, or the least discredit on what I do not, as if I pretended to settle any thing as true or false. I unsettle all things. No facts are to me sacred; none are profane; I simply experiment, an endless seeker.

Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet. Then all things are at risk. It is as when a conflagration has broken out in a great city, and no man knows what is safe, or where it will end. There is not a piece of science, but its flank may be turned to-morrow; there is not any literary reputation, not the so-called eternal names of fame, that may not be revised and condemned. The very hopes of man, the thoughts of his heart, the religion of nations, the manner and morals of mankind, are all at the mercy of a new generalization. Generalization is always a new influx of the divinity into the mind. Hence the thrill that attends it.

Our moods do not believe in each other. To-day I am full of thoughts and can write what I please. I see no reason why I should not have the same thought, the same power of expression, to-morrow. What I write, whilst I write it, seems the most natural thing in the world: but yesterday I saw a dreary vacuity in this direction in which now I see so much; and a month hence, I doubt not, I shall wonder who he was that wrote so many continuous pages.

Every thing looks permanent until its secret is known.

Valor consists in the power of self-recovery, so that a man cannot have his flank turned, cannot be out-generalled, but put him where you will, he stands. This can only be by his preferring truth to his past apprehension of truth; and his alert acceptance of it, from whatever quarter; the intrepid conviction that his laws, his relations to society, his Christianity, his world may at any time be superseded and decease.

And maybe that's the secret: Maybe we do go in circles, but they're orbits, created by the gravity of our hearts and hopes, and so if we stay true to ourselves, we will face the same situations again, but each time we come around, we know more, we've grown, learned, and this time we can get it right, or at least a little better.

That second man has his own way of looking at things; asks himself which debt must I pay first, the debt to the rich, or the debt to the poor? the debt of money, or the debt of thought to mankind, of genius to nature? For you, O broker! there is no other principle but arithmetic. For me, commerce is of trivial import; love, faith, truth of character, the aspiration of man, these are sacred; nor can I detach one duty, like you, from all other duties, and concentrate my forces mechanically on the payment of moneys. Let me live onward; you shall find that, though slower, the progress of my character will liquidate all these debts without injustice to higher claims. If a man should dedicate himself to the payment of notes, would not this be injustice? Does he owe no debt but money? And are all claims on him to be postponed to a landlord's or a banker's?

Every man supposes himself not to be fully understood; and if there is any truth in him ... I see not how it can be otherwise.

No truth so sublime but it may be trivial to-morrow in the light of new thoughts. People wish to be settled: only as far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them.

That’s it, Charlotte. Good girl.” His words spur me on, sending bolts of lightning through my body. My own fingers rub my clit in fast circles, and it feels so good; it’s a relief. Emerson’s hand rests over mine, but he isn’t touching me. Instead, he grips my hip with one hand and grinds his erection against my backside.

Every man supposes himself not to be fully understood; and if there is any truth in him, if he rests at last on the divine soul, I see not how it can be otherwise. The last chamber, the last closet, he must feel, was never opened; there is always a residuum unknown, unanalyzable. That is, every man believes that he has a greater possibility.

Noah propped himself up on his elbow, his wicked grin in place. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to see you on this bed?” “Nope.” The hem of my sweater rode up from our fall, exposing my belly button. Noah traced circles onto the skin of my stomach, down to the material of my low-rise jeans. His touch sent a combination of tickles and chills through my body. My heart sped up and I struggled to keep my breathing normal. Every Noah rumor had been right. His kisses curled my toes and now his simple touch rocked my body. Fear mingled with the pleasure in my bloodstream.

There are no fixtures in nature. The universe is fluid and volatile.

The eye is the first circle; the horizon which it forms is the second; and throughout nature this primary figure is repeated without end.

This surface on which we now stand is not fixed, but sliding.

The energy of the mind is commensurate with the work to be done.

Who looks upon a river in a meditative hour, and is not reminded of the flux of all things? Throw a stone into the stream, and the circles that propagate themselves are the beautiful type of all influence. Man is conscious of a universal soul within or behind his individual life, wherein, as in a firmament, the natures of Justice, Truth, Love, Freedom, arise and shine. This universal soul, he calls Reason: it is not mine, or thine, or his, but we are its; we are its property and men. And the blue sky in which the private earth is buried, the sky with its eternal calm, and full of everlasting orbs, is the type of Reason. That which, intellectually considered, we call Reason, considered in relation to nature, we call Spirit. Spirit is the Creator. Spirit hath life in itself. And man in all ages and countries, embodies it in his language, as the FATHER.

scientist… put his own brain into the bear’s head?” I asked. “Like, the scientist performed that kind of operation… on himself?” “Duh,” Slug said. “Anyone who could successfully transplant a human head could easily put their own brain into something else.” Gidget burst out laughing. “Do you guys hear what you’re saying? Are you for real right now?” But Brayden and Slug ignored her. “And then they fought crime after midnight!” Brayden said. “Of course they did,” Slug said. “What else would they do?” Gidget shook her head. I’m not sure why she was surprised at what Brayden and Slug were saying. I definitely wasn’t. “Heads up,” Brayden said as his face turned serious. “Trouble at two-o-clock.” “Two-o-clock?” Slug questioned. “What happens at two? That’s right before school lets out! I’m not the kind of kid who cries in front of people, but if I’m forced to stay here after school’s dismissed, I just might!” “No, dude,” Brayden sighed. “I meant two-o-clock, like the direction.” “Huh?” Slug said, spinning in a circle. Gidget groaned, slipped her cell phone back into her front pocket, and grabbed her twin brother’s shoulders, pointing him in the direction that Brayden was talking about. On the other side of the statue, and walking toward us, was Naomi. My ninja clan knew all about

“Sorry, I thought this room belonged to a red-headed girl. Is this her room?” He checks out the room number beside the door, and I broaden my stance. “What makes you think she’s here?” The guy winces. “I followed her.” A tremor runs through my body, and I have to keep from grabbing his throat and shoving him into the wall. Keep talking, asshole. I won’t have Echo pissed at me when I take a swing at this guy. I’ll allow him to bury himself first. “What do you want with her?” “Noah,” Echo whispers behind me and touches my bare back. “Did he say he followed me?” The guy pulls his hands out of his sagging jeans. “I know this is strange, but I want to talk to her.” “Noah?” Echo inches as if she’s going to peek out, and I slide in front of the door, holding the handle to keep her safely inside. This guy’s going to need a hell of a right hook to get to her. “You need to go,” I say. He rams both fists into his hair, and he’s got dark circles under his eyes like he hasn’t slept. “Look, I know this is insane—” “You’re right—you’re fucking crazy. Guys knocking on hotel rooms of girls without being asked is sick.” I jerk my thumb for him to leave. “Serial killers belong at the next exit.”

The advantage of the ideal theory over the popular faith, is this, that it presents the world in precisely that view which is most desirable to the mind. It is, in fact, the view which Reason, both speculative and practical, that is, philosophy and virtue, take. For, seen in the light of thought, the world always is phenomenal; and virtue subordinates it to the mind. Idealism sees the world in God. It beholds the whole circle of persons and things, of actions and events, of country and religion, not as painfully accumulated, atom after atom, act after act, in an aged creeping Past, but as one vast picture, which God paints on the instant eternity, for the contemplation of the soul. Therefore the soul holds itself off from a too trivial and microscopic study of the universal tablet.

It seems as if the Deity dressed each soul which he sends into nature in certain virtues and powers not communicable to other men, and, sending it to perform one more turn through the circle of beings, wrote “Not transferable,” and “Good for this trip only,” on these garments of the soul.

was a melancholy introvert who declined to join in philosophical discussions.)   The Concord circle of sympathetically-minded thinkers, writers, and social activists became known as Transcendentalists. What exactly is Transcendentalism? That’s the question Emerson set out to answer at Boston’s Masonic Temple in 1842. In addition to defining his own philosophy, this lecture planted the seeds of the modern self-help and personal development movements.

There are no fixtures to men, if we appeal to consciousness. Every man supposed himself not to be fully understood; and if there is any truth in him, if he rests at last on the divine soul, I see not how it can be otherwise. The last chamber, the last closet, he must feel was never opened; there is always a residuum unknown, unanalyzed. That is, every man believes that he has a greater possibility.

The law of harmonic sounds reappears in the harmonic colors. The granite is differenced in its laws only by the more or less of heat from the river that wears it away. The river, as it flows, resembles the air that flows over it; the air resembles the light which traverses it with more subtile currents; the light resembles the heat which rides with it through Space. Each creature is only a modification of the other; the likeness in them is more than the difference, and their radical law is one and the same. A rule of one art, or a law of one organization, holds true throughout nature. So intimate is this Unity, that, it is easily seen, it lies under the undermost garment of Nature, and betrays its source in Universal Spirit. For it pervades Thought also. Every universal truth which we express in words, implies or supposes every other truth. Omne verum vero consonat. It is like a great circle on a sphere, comprising all possible circles; which, however, may be drawn and comprise it in like manner. Every such truth is the absolute Ens seen from one side. But it has innumerable sides.

Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another can be drawn; that there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning; that there is always another dawn risen on midnoon, and under every deep a lower deep opens.

Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another can be drawn; that there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning; that there is always another dawn risen on midnoon, and under every deep a lower deep opens.

were doing, but they weren’t at their table anymore. When I finally found them, they were huddled up with some other kids near the center of the cafeteria. Gavin had his brow furrowed as if he was concerned, but I’m pretty sure he always looked like that. It wasn’t until I saw Brayden with the same expression that I knew something was wrong. I stood from my table and joined the crowd of students. I was on the outside of the circle so I couldn’t tell what was going on yet. “What’s up?” I asked Brayden. Brayden shrugged his shoulders. “Somebody stole something, I think.” Gavin leaned over and stood on his tippy toes. “Not somebody, but a lot of bodies. A few kids had some things stolen from them.” “Okay,” I said, “so why isn’t anyone speaking up about it? Why the weird huddle of whispers and secrets?” “Because it was gum that was stolen,” Faith said, as she stepped out of the circle and joined our conversation. Zoe was right behind her. “Someone stole gum from ten different kids.” “Ah,” Brayden sighed. “So it’s not like they’d get help to begin with. If they admitted they had gum, they’d be asked why they even had it in the first place.” “Exactly,” Faith said, rubbing her arms like she was cold. “Ten kids?” I whispered. “Someone managed to get away with stealing gum from ten different people?” Faith nodded. “Some of these kids had it taken right from their pockets too!” “That’s crazy!” I said. “That’s…” I trailed off. I wanted to say it sounded like the work of a ninja, but I kept my mouth shut. “What’s crazy is that some of these kids said they still had their gum before answering the questions on that career test,” Faith added. “That was only, like, twenty minutes ago.” Zoe darted her eyes at Wyatt as he approached. “It was you, wasn’t it?” “What was me?” Wyatt asked, annoyed. As much as I didn’t want to, I knew I had to speak up because it was the honorable thing to do. “No,” I said, coming to Wyatt’s defense. “He was with me the entire time, before and after the career test. He never left my sight.” I pointed at Olive, who was still chomping away. “She was with him too, so it wasn’t her either. Even though it looks like she’s chewing enough gum for a football team, she was chewing on it before the career test.

Anyone can be a philosopher but not everyone can master Philosophy. Those who can will be considered the new Shakespeare, Lincoln, Ralph Waldo Emerson, or even the new Napoleon Bonaparte. However, most of them will continue to run in circles.

Stoicism had an enormous impact on Emerson and his circle, probably greater than that of Puritanism, whether direct or indirect. Stoicism, like Puritanism, is more than a matter of character traits; it is a body of thought underlying and giving coherence to certain character traits. It teaches that we must turn to nature as the primary source of moral principles. Stoicism was founded by Zeno, at the end of the fourth century B.C., after Alexander had shattered the Greek polis, which had been the traditional context for moral action. From Zeno to Marcus Aurelius, the Stoics aimed to provide a basis for moral action and a means of personal well-being in the natural endowments of any human being, irrespective of social status. The value of any particular theoretical inquiry depends on whether it has any significance for the moral life. Stoicism is not anti-intellectual. It insists that true morality is impossible without knowledge, especially scientific knowledge. Stoicism endorses Heraclitus’s “All individual things in the world are manifestations of one primary substance” and insists that there is a law that governs the course of nature and should govern human action. Stoicism has been claimed as a Semitic element in Greek thought and as a pagan element in Christianity. In Emerson and Thoreau it takes on its modern form of self-reliance understood not as self-sufficiency but as self-respect.

Parish affairs and town affairs overlapped substantially. Church and state were not officially separated in Massachusetts until 1834, and as late as that date is, Concord did not comply with the new law until 1856. The church was no longer the only social force in town. When Emerson moved there, Concord had an exclusive group called the Social Circle, limited to twenty-five members, which went back to 1778 (and which still continues), and a library that had been started in 1794 and reorganized in 1821. There was a Female Charitable Society and a Society for the Suppression of Intemperance, both dating from 1814. By Emerson’s time there was a strong antislavery society, in which Cynthia Thoreau, mother of David Henry, was active. The women of Concord sent frequent petitions and memorials to the government in Washington. A lyceum was begun in 1828; it incorporated an earlier debating society. A Mozart society was founded in 1832. By 1835 Concord had sixty-six college graduates, with another four or five currently enrolled as undergraduates. The town itself had six school districts, with separate schools for boys and girls. The schoolhouses, one of which was directly across the street from the Emersons’ new house, were plain and bare, without paint or equipment. Heated by a single stove each, they were always too hot or too cold, and they struggled with an absentee rate that averaged 33 percent. There was a small, precariously maintained private academy for college-bound students.

Emerson and the circle of liberal intellectuals around him, Kant and Fichte were simply more important than Locke or Hume or the Scottish Common Sense school in philosophy; Goethe and Novalis were more important than Wordsworth or Keats in literature, and the work of Herder, Coleridge (himself strongly influenced by German thought), and Schleiermacher was more important in theology than Jonathan Edwards and the American Puritan tradition. One simply could not expect, in 1837, to understand the advanced intellectual atmosphere of the times without taking up Germany.1