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what do these quotes mean?

by Ralph waldo Emerson

and Henry David Thoreau 

the sky is the bread of the eyes

i believe that there is a subtle magnetism in nature,which,if we unconsciously,yield to it will direct us aright.

shall i not have intelligence with the earth? am i not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself.

nature will bear the clsoset inspection. she invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its pain.

nature is full of genius, full of the divinity;so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand.

adopt the pece of nature: her secret is patience.

nature hates calculators.

how cunningly nature hides every wrinkle of her inconceivable antiquity under roses and violets and morning dew!

Each of these quotes is an ode to the beauty of nature and its spiritual importance. 

In the first, nature draws us in (magnetism) and sets us on the right path.

Second, he's saying that people are all part of nature -- that we are made of the same stuff as leaves and mold -- and so we have an important connection.

Third, he's talking about how perfect nature is.  No matter how closely we look, it's still complex and beautiful.  I'm not completely sure what he meant by a view of its pain -- maybe he's talking about the leaf's pain from the insect's bite.

Fourth, he is talking about how 'god' -- or the spiritual essence -- is evident in every tiny particle of nature. Even something as tiny as a snowflake is gorgeous and full of spirit.

Fifth, he is saying that the secret of the peacefulness of nature is that she (nature) doesn't expect anything to happen quickly (as people do).

Sixth, in Emerson's time they didn't have mathematical calculators like we do.   He probably meant people who are always trying to get the advantage over someone else and always worried about their selfish aims.

The seventh is just poetic.  Nature has to be realllllllly old -- inconceivable antiquity.  But, she is still beautiful, hiding her wrinkles under the beauty of roses and violets and morning dew.

Hope this is helpful. 

thanks cburr!

yvw :)