Meditations of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Into the Green Future

By Chris Highland

Carry Ralph Waldo Emerson’s wisdom with you in this inspirational guide that features 60 of his most insightful quotes.

As an “adventuring heretic,” Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) challenged comfortable assumptions about nature, scientific understanding, and divine intelligence. The Sage of Concord’s writings continue to inspire and influence new generations of thinkers and readers as he bridges the wild places of the heart and intellect.

In Meditations of Ralph Waldo Emerson, editor Chris Highland pairs 60 Emerson passages with inspirational quotes from historical and contemporary luminaries as diverse as Margaret Fuller, the Dalai Lama, and Jack Kerouac. Take this pocket-size guide with you on backpacks, nature hikes, and camping trips. Let Emerson’s words enrich your experience as you ponder the wilderness from riverbank, mountaintop, or as you relax beside your campfire.

Inside you’ll find:

• 60 inspiring Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes
• Selections of text from other philosophical minds
• Short excerpts for convenient reading

This portable sampler of 60 selections—from 30 years of Emerson’s writings—reveals the essence of Emerson’s spiritual vision. Journey into the mind and heart of this great 19th century author, poet, and philosopher whose writings remain relevant and inspiring today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wilderness Press
• Release date: Jan 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9780899976136

Book preview

Meditations of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Into the Green Future

1st EDITION April 2004

2nd printing April 2006

3rd printing August 2008

Copyright © 2004 by Chris Highland

Foreword copyright © 2004 by Wesley T. Mott

Front cover and frontispiece portraits courtesy Joel Myerson

Collection of Nineteenth-Century American

Literature, University of South Carolina

Other cover photos copyright © 2004 by Chris Highland

Interior photos, except where noted, by Chris Highland

Book and cover design by Larry B. Van Dyke

ISBN 978-0-89997-352-4

UPC 7-19609-97352-2

Manufactured in the United States of America

Published by: Wilderness Press

1345 8th Street

Berkeley, CA 94710

[phone]; FAX [phone]

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www.wildernesspress.com

Visit our website for a complete listing of our books and for ordering information.

Cover photos: Emerson at age 51 (1854); Glen Almond—Highlands, Scotland; Fern fronds; Sunrise over Blue Ridge Mountains—South Carolina

Frontispiece: Emerson at age 70 (1873)

To Sharel

Contents

Foreword

by Wesley T. Mott

Introduction

Emerson Selection, with Source and Companion

1 I Will Be a Naturalist — Charles Darwin

Journals (1833)

2 The Noble Earth — David Brower

Journals (1834)

3 Mellow Beauty — Anna Ione

Journals (1834)

4 Natural Relations — Martin Buber

Journals (1836)

5 Face to Face — Margaret Fuller

Nature (1836)

6 To Go Into Solitude — The Dalai Lama

Nature (1836)

7 On This Green Ball — Zoroaster

Nature (1836)

8 Follow Your Streams — Mechthild

Nature (1836)

9 My Beautiful Mother — Chief Seattle

Nature (1836)

10 Worship — Meister Eckhart

Nature (1836)

11 By Your Hands — Henri Nouwen

Nature (1836)

12 The Secret of Nature — Catherine of Siena

Journals (1837)

13 Humanity Thinking — Marcus Aurelius

The American Scholar (1837)

14 This Web of God — The Tao

The American Scholar (1837)

15 From One Root — George Herbert

The American Scholar (1837)

16 Currents of Warm Life — Oscar Romero

The American Scholar (1837)

17 World Enough For Us — St. Monica

Journals (1838)

18 The Wild Apple Bloomed God — Black Elk

Journals (1838)

19 Into the Green Future — Henry David Thoreau

Journals (1838)

20 Breath of Life — David Masumoto

An Address (1838)

21 Religion of Joy — Martin Luther King, Jr.

An Address (1838)

22 My Garden is Nearer — Henry Miller

Journals (1839)

23 I Can Hardly Believe It Exists — Tim McNulty

Journals (1840)

24 In the Presence of Nature — Rumi

Journals (1840)

25 Where One Ray Should Fall — Hildegard of Bingen

Self-Reliance (1841, first series of essays)

26 Wood-life — Theodore Roethke

Self-Reliance (1841)

27 All Things Are Made Sacred — John Shelby Spong

Self-Reliance (1841)

28 Roses Are Roses — Friedrich Nietzsche

Self-Reliance (1841)

29 No Other Footprints — Navaho

Self-Reliance (1841)

30 To Beg a Cup of Water — Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Self-Reliance (1841)

31 Higher Prayer — Jack Kerouac

Self-Reliance (1841)

32 My Giant — Hans Christian Andersen

Self-Reliance (1841)

33 Path from the Heart — Thich Nhat Hanh

Journals (1841)

34 Lowly Listening — Søren Kierkegaard

Spiritual Laws (1841)

35 The Passion — Marguerite Porete

Love (1841)

36 Shelter — Mother Teresa

Friendship (1841)

37 We Are a Stream — Sirach

The Over-Soul (1841)

38 Without a Bell — Mundaka Upanishad

The Over-Soul (1841)

39 By the Same Fire — Vincent van Gogh

The Over-Soul (1841)

40 The Heart of All — Yehudah Zevi

The Over-Soul (1841)

41 Circle Within Circle — Vivekananda

Circles (1841)

42 Immersed in Beauty — Mahatma Gandhi

Art (1841)

43 Daily Bread — Jesus of Nazareth

Journals (1843)

44 Waiting For a Poet — Robert Burns

The Poet (1844, second series of essays)

45 Toys — Heraclitus

The Poet (1844)

46 Gates of the Forest — Walt Whitman

Nature (1844)

47 To Nestle in Nature — Gerard Manley Hopkins

Nature (1844)

48 The Most Ancient Religion — Karen Armstrong

Nature (1844)

49 Beauty Breaks in Everywhere — Nahid Angha

Nature (1844)

50 The City of God — Saul of Tarsus

Nature (1844)

51 Proteus — Bernd Heinrich

Nature (1844)

52 The Young of the World — John Steinbeck

Nature (1844)

53 Encamped in Nature — John Muir

Nature (1844)

54 Not Near Enough — Sandokai

Nature (1844)

55 Tickled Trout — The Qur’an

Nature (1844)

56 A Present Sanity — The Buddha

Nature (1844)

57 Save the Present Moment — Shurli Grant

Journals (1848)

58 Sweeter Rivers Silent — Rebecca Lawton

Journals (1856)

59 Deep Green Leaves — Malcolm Jones

Journals (1862)

60 I Am Still at Home — The Dalai Lama

From the poem Walden

Afterword — Ralph Waldo Emerson

From the poem Good-Bye

Sources

Photo Credits

Foreword

A man is a method, a progressive arrangement; a selecting principle, gathering his like to him, wherever he goes.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Spiritual Laws

The reputation of Ralph Waldo Emerson is as high as it has been