“Objects are concealed from our view, not so much
because they are out of the course of our visual ray as because we do not bring
our minds and eyes to bear on them; for there is no power to see in the eye
itself, any more than in any other jelly. We do not realize how far and widely,
or how near and narrowly, we are to look. The greater part of the phenomena of
Nature are for this reason concealed from us all our lives. The gardener sees
only the gardener's garden. Here, too, as in political economy, the supply
answers to the demand. Nature does not cast pearls before swine. There is just
as much beauty visible to us in the landscape as we are prepared to
appreciate,—not a grain more.”—American essayist, naturalist and poet Henry
David Thoreau (1817-1862), “Autumnal Tints,” The Atlantic, October
1862I took the image accompanying this post in late October 2008.
No comments:
Post a Comment