Emerson’s Aphorisms
5. To be great is to be misunderstood.
The aphorism is trying to make the point that being misunderstood is part of being great. If you are great then there are people less great than yourself. The people who think you are great with not understand how you are higher than themselves. You will have knowledge and ideas beyond that of the average person. I agree with this opinion and think it is closely tied with Emerson’s love of the instinctual part of man. You need to be in touch with part of your brain other than logic, reason, and past experience in order to be great. You have to think outside the box and come up with new and interesting ways of solving problems.
8. In skating over thin ice, our safety is in our speed.
The aphorism is trying to make the point that when you are in a dangerous position, you don’t want to walk slowly because you could fall into trouble. You want to get away from the thin ice as quickly as possible. This links back to Emerson’s belief that you should go through your life without stopping and analyzing everything you do. I agree with this position because if you took your time and went through life slowly, then you wouldn’t get far. It would be much easier to rush past the trouble and get on with your life. Live your life on instinct and get in touch with the deeper part of yourself.
13. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
The aphorism makes the point that life has an infinite number of results and possibilities. It is almost impossible to tell what the result will be. You may fail or succeed in your life. I agree that life is an experiment. You are trying out something new and uncertain of the result. After the experiment is completed, you have a larger picture of how life works. If you continue experimenting, then you will learn more and more. I think that all life is one experiment after another. You are like a scientist trying to see what will work to solve each problem that you are confronted with. Anything could happen and anything will happen.
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