Famous Quotes | But wise men pierce this rotten...
But wise men pierce this rotten diction and fasten words again to visible things; so that picturesque language is at once a commanding certificate that he who employs it, is a man in alliance with truth and God.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Attribution: Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), U.S. essayist, poet, philosopher. Nature, ch. 4 (1836, revised and repr. 1849). Quotations such as this can be used to counter the common assumption that Emerson was a feathery, abstract idealist. For Emerson, a person who truly speaks is rooted in the particulars of the world and thus speaks a concrete language. See his thoughts on nature and spirituality, for he clearly argues that the Divine, the human mind, and nature are bound together. To search for one, you must search for all.
Categories: Essayist, Language, Philosopher
