HE lover of Nature is he whose inward and Toutward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood. His intercourse with heaven and earth becomes part of his daily food. JULY SECOND NATURE In the thought of to-morrow there is a power to upheave all thy creed, all the creeds, all the literatures of the nations, and marshal thee to a heaven which no epic dream has yet depicted. Every man is not so much a workman in the world as he is a suggestion of that he should be. Men walk as prophecies of the next age. JULY THIRD We buy ashes for bread, Give me of the true, Whose ample leaves and tendrils curled Among the silver hills of heaven, Draw everlasting dew. CIRCLES BACCHUS The power of manners is incessant,—an element as unconcealable as fire. The nobility cannot in any country be disguised, and no more in a republic or a democracy than in a kingdom. No man can resist their influence. JULY FIFTH BEHAVIOR Is not prayer also a study of truth,—a sally of the soul into the unfound infinite? No man ever prayed heartily without learning something. JULY SIXTH There was never mystery, But 't is figured in the flowers, Was never secret history, But birds tell it in the bowers. JULY SEVENTH PROSPECTS THE APOLOGY We see literature best from the midst of wild nature, or from the din of affairs, or from a high religion. The field cannot be well seen from within the field. The astronomer must have his diameter of the earth's orbit as a base to find the parallax of any star. JULY EIGHTH CIRCLES Because ecstasy is the law and cause of Nature, therefore you cannot interpret it in too high and deep a sense. Nature represents the best meaning of the wisest man. JULY NINTH THE METHOD OF NATURE The tradesman, the attorney, comes out of the din and craft of the street, and sees the sky and the woods, and is a man again. In their eternal calm he finds himself. The health of the eye seems to demand a horizon. We are never tired, so long as we can see far enough. JULY TENTH BEAUTY All things are moral, and in their boundless changes have an unceasing reference to spiritual nature. JULY ELEVENTH DISCIPLINE Men suffer all their life long under the foolish superstition that they can be cheated. But it is as impossible for a man to be cheated by any one but himself, as it is for a thing to be and not to be at the same time. There is a third silent party to all our bargains. The nature and soul of things takes on itself the guaranty of the fulfilment of every contract, so that honest service cannot come to loss. JULY TWELFTH A subtle chain of countless rings COMPENSATION And speaks all languages the rose; JULY THIRTEENTH NATURE He teaches who gives, and he learns who receives. There is no teaching until the pupil is brought into the same state or principle in which you are; a transfusion takes place; he is you and you are he; then is a teaching, and by no unfriendly chance or bad company can he ever quite lose the benefit. JULY FOURTEENTH SPIRITUAL LAWS There are three wants which never can be satisfied: that of the rich, who wants something more; that of the sick, who wants something different; and that of the traveller, who says, "Anywhere but here." JULY FIFTEENTH CONSIDERATIONS BY THE WAY Wiser far than human seer, Sipping only what is sweet, Thou dost mock at fate and care, Leave the chaff and take the wheat. JULY SIXTEENTH THE HUMBLEBEE People grieve and bemoan themselves, but it is not half so bad with them as they say. There are moods in which we court suffering, in the hope that here, at least, we shall find reality, sharp peaks and edges of truth. But it turns out to be scene-painting and counterfeit. The only thing grief has taught me, is to know how shallow it is. JULY SEVENTEENTH EXPERIENCE Our spontaneous action is always the best. You cannot with your best deliberation and heed come so close to any question as your spontaneous glance shall bring you, whilst you rise from your bed, or walk abroad in the morning after meditating the matter before sleep on the previous night. JULY EIGHTEENTH INTELLECT The one thing which we seek with insatiable desire is to forget ourselves, to be surprised out of our propriety, to lose our sempiternal memory and to do something without knowing how or why; in short to draw a new circle. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. The way of life is wonderful. It is by abandonment. JULY NINETEENTH Love's hearts are faithful, but not fond, [65] CIRCLES CELESTIAL LOVE |