Ralph Waldo Emerson

Too busy with the crowded hour to fear to live or die.Ralph Waldo Emerson

I believe what he is saying is that people get so busy and wrapped up in their lives that

they fail to notice things and lose the fear of living or dieing because they feel they have all the time in the world when they are really

guaranteed nothing.

Nature is a mutable cloud which is always and never the same. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The things of nature change all the time, but it still remains nature. It still retains it beauty and life within the many changes that it goes

through. As long as it is not disrupted by mankind it will still be God’s creation, just as

people are despite its changes.

    The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs.

Ralph Waldo EmersonFour years you think for sureThat’s all you've got to endureAll the total dicksAll the stuck up chicksSo superficial, so immatureThen when you graduateYou take a look around and you say HEY WAIT!This is the same as where I just came fromI thought it was overAw that’s just great

The whole damn world is just as obsessedWith who‘s the best dressed and who‘s having sexWho‘s got the money, who gets the honeysWho‘s kinda cute and who‘s just a messAnd you still don’t have the right lookAnd you don’t have the right friendsNothing changes but the faces, the names, and the trendsHigh school never ends

Check out the popular kidsYou’ll never guess what Jessica didHow did Mary Kate lose all that weightAnd Katie had a baby so I guess Tom’s straightAnd the only thing that matters Is climbing up that social ladderStill care about your hair and the car you driveDoesn’t matter if you’re sixteen or thirty-five

Reese Witherspoon,She’s the prom queenBill Gates,Captain of the chess teamJack Black, the clownBrad Pitt, the quarterbackSeen it all before I want my money back!!

The whole damn world is just as obsessedWith who’s the best dressed and who’s having sexWho’s in the club and who’s on the drugsWho’s throwing up before they digestAnd you still don’t have the right lookAnd you don’t have the right friendsAnd you still listen to the same shit you did back thenHigh school never ends….

Everybody wants to be somebody else, somebody popular. The world is encouraging

everybody to conform because that’s what sells. Emerson sees this. All people like are

“names and customs”. Nobody cares if you are an individual or “self-reliant” anymore.

To be great is to be misunderstood.Ralph Waldo Emerson

A quote from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone shows that greatness can be either good

or bad, “..he did great things…terrible, but great.” Many great people in life were

misunderstood, Picasso, Galileo, and even Bill Gates. People may not see the reasons why someone would do something, but greatness

can come from it.

The man in the street does not know a star in the sky.Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ever notice how you cannot see the stars in the

sky in a city. The lights make it impossible to see the shining stars above, so “a man in the street”

cannot know the stars, but a man in nature can.

Every sweet has its sour; every evil its good. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Just like Darth Vader still had some good in him in Return of the Jedi, so does

every evil thing. There is usually some good in every person. It’s called a

conscience.

The reward of a thing well done is to have done it. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Doesn’t it feel good when you finish a project that you worked really hard on and know you’re going to make an A? Well, I believe that is the reward that Emerson is referring to. It feels like a weight has

been lifted off your shoulders and you don’t have to worry about it anymore. It can apply to anything

that you do. It just feels good to get it done, especially when it’s done well.

Every hero becomes a bore at last. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Heroes come a go as the years go on. Hercules was big with the Greeks many years ago, but now, he is but a legend rarely told. No matter what great thing they

do, every hero will eventually fade into the background and few will know their name. People are always

looking for someone knew to be their hero.

The hearing ear is always found close to the speaking tongue. Ralph Waldo Emerson

This quote can be taken two ways, either the hearer likes gossip and will be around those who spread it or a good listener will

be in the company of those who really need some to talk to, like a psychiatrist. Both scenarios are very true. You would

not find someone who does not enjoy listening to others close to someone who

talks a lot.

A creative economy is the fuel of magnificence.Ralph Waldo Emerson

Our economy would not have come as far as it has if it did not have a sense of creativity. It’s what runs our advertisements and gives our economy and

lives culture. It is probably the main reason America has had

such success with our economy because we are free to think

creatively.

We boil at different degrees. Ralph Waldo Emerson

There is evidence of this everyday. I believe it ties into the nature of being “hot-tempered”.

Some people have more patience than others so it takes a whole lot more for them to “boil”. It is helpful if we figure out people’s boiling points

before we take things too far and I think Emerson made this statement to emphasize

that we are not all the same when it comes to our tempers.

Henry David Thoreau

I never found the companion that was so companionable as

solitude. Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau seemed very determined with the idea of self-reliance, and it is true that even friends cannot be very companionable. They get in fights

whereas solitude, you are the only person there. I don’t find the idea of

solitude very companionable either, but I think that Thoreau was a bit of a loner.

Whate’er we leave to God, God does and blesses us.Henry David Thoreau

Though, many people may not believe this statement to be true, I think it is because God can do everything better than any

human ever could. If people just let Him have the control things would be so much

better and He will bless them for their faith. Thoreau came from a time when God was

a prominent part of life and gazing at nature and seeing what he could

accomplish on his own is probably how he discovered how great his God was.

 Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.

Henry David Thoreau

It may seem that we are excelling in life with all of our technology, but in reality it can hold us behind. People are no longer capable of researching without a computer or

communicating without a cell phone. I have heard many people say, “I would die without my cell phone. It’s my life,” and in that very way they are not able to function

without it like they used to be able to do.

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.

Henry David Thoreau

In the Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantes was imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit because the government was corrupt. He met another man there who suffered the same fate. Thoreau is saying that if the government is going to

imprison a just man then they should imprison every just man. It is as if the roles were switched in which the just man is a prisoner and the unjust a free

man.

Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.

Henry David Thoreau

The point of reading a book is to decide whether it is a good book or not, so it seems odd that he would say to “read the best books first.”

Maybe he is implying that you should ask people which books are good, so

that you don’t waste your time reading a book that is awful. Still,

everybody has their own opinion so we can only hope that the books we choose are good so that we do get

the chance to read them all

I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.

Henry David Thoreau

This quote paints a good picture about the different aspects of our life. Sometimes we are alone, sometimes

with just a close friend, and sometimes in the company of many. Maybe he is saying that it is good to

have three because it creates a balance. No one can be alone all the

time.

Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it.

Henry David Thoreau

If you hire someone just because he wants the

money, most likely he won’t do as good a job as someone who loves what he does. If he loves to do it, he will put

more time effort into it to make it good. That’s why in

every TV commercial advertising a job opportunity, they say that they love their

job. A person would be miserable and bitter if he had to do something he didn’t like

day in and day out.

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.Henry David Thoreau

What Thoreau is saying here is that you could not possibly write about something you have not

experienced, if you try to sit down and write without first living it, it will be dreadful. It is selfish of

yourself and belittling to the reader if you have no idea what

you’re talking about.

If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. But do not care to convince him.

Men will believe what they see. Let them see. Henry David Thoreau

This quote reminds me of the phrase, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Many parents use the

technique, but it doesn’t do very much good. People are

examples to those who look up to them, so if you say one thing

and do another they do not know what to think. He is saying that you should not try to convince

him that he is doing wrong if you are doing it too, because that would make you a hypocrite.

My friend is one... who take me for what I am.Henry David Thoreau

A true friend will accept you for who you are and not try to change you. He is saying that he is not friends with anyone who will do otherwise. What would be the point of having a friend if it changes who you are completely.

"What U See (Is What You Get)"

You used to say that I was specialEverything was rightBut now you think I'm wearing too much make-upThat my dress is too tightYou got no reasons to be jealousI've never been untrueSo does it really matter if they're lookingI'm only looking at youYou should never try to change meI can be nobody elseAnd I like the way I am

[Chorus:]What you see is what you getThis is me, hey youIf you want me, don't forgetYou should take me as I am'Cause I can promise youBaby, what you see is what you get

I know you watch me when I'm dancin'When I party with me friendsI can feel your eyes on my back, babyI can't have no chains around me, baby can't you seeI could be anything you dream of, but I gotta feel freeYou should never try to change meI can be nobody elseAnd I like the way I am

[Repeat Chorus]

You should never try to change meI can be nobody elseBelieve me, you'll be looking for trouble if you hurt meI can promise you, you'll be looking for troubleBelieve me, yeah yeah yeah yeah