Selection from “Language,” an Essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson (vegetarian)

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a renowned 19th-century American essayist, philosopher, lecturer, poet, and a leader of the transcendental philosophical movement. Emerson is most famous for his essays, through which he expresses ideas of freedom, spirituality, individuality, the great ability of humans to realize almost everything, and the relationship between the soul and the surrounding world. The essay “Nature” emphasizes the spirituality of nature, which he referred to as the “Universal Being,” and the human-nature connection. “Man is conscious of a universal soul within or behind his individual life, wherein, as in a firmament, the natures of Justice, Truth, Love, Freedom, arise and shine. This universal soul, he calls Reason: it is not mine, or thine, or his, but we are its; we are its property and men. Spirit is the Creator. Spirit hath life in itself. And man in all ages and countries, embodies it in his language, as the Father.”