Ralph Waldo Emerson on Judgment

RALPH WALDO EMERSON on Judgment

It seems to be a rule of wisdom never to rely on your memory alone, scarcely even in acts of pure memory, but to bring the past for judgment into the thousand-eyed present and live ever in a new day. -Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The American poet, essayist, and philosopher; was a steady optimist who believed that nature is a manifestation of spirit.

Emerson explains, The tree or the brook has no duplicity, no pretentiousness. They’re with all their might and main. Making one and the same impression and effect at all times.

He continues by saying that “All the thoughts of a turtle are turtle’s, and of a rabbit, rabbit’s. But a man is broken and dissipated by the giddiness of his will. He throws himself into his judgments. Thus his genius leads him one way, and his trade or politics in another.

“Good judgment” observed Emerson, “comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.”

To put this important information to work in your life, apply the following:

• Begin to practice the wisdom that “There are many things I do not understand, and I like it that way.”
• Make every effort to look for that perfection rather than being misled by appearances.
• And for every minute you are angry, says Emerson, you lose sixty seconds of happiness.
• Lastly, refuse to make judgments about the importance or value of others based on what you have come to evaluate as “normal.” Realize that no one is superior in the invisible realm of the spirit and that our outer shells all come in various shapes, sizes, and conditions.

Final Thoughts

The stoic philosopher, Epictetus also reminds us that “It isn’t events themselves that disturb people, but only their judgments about them.”

Often we say to ourselves. “How could this have happened?”

Or “It’s so and so’s fault.”

And as result, we continue to perceive the negative, grandanlizing the disturbance then blaming it on the event.

In other words, our inner fortress or as the Stoic would say, the inner Citadel has been breached from within. Epictetus says, Discourses, 4.1. “Not by iron or fire, but by judgements…here is where we must begin, and it is from this front that we must seize the fortress and throw out the tyrants.”

Thank you for reading.

Stay strong dear reader, and God bless.