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 Henry David Thoreau, American Writer Historic Print  Nodding Trillium Flower Beneath Leaf in Springtime  Asa Gray American Botanist, Friend of Darwin  Walden and Civil Disobedience  Thumbing Through Thoreau A Book of Quotations by Henry David Thoreau  A Mind with Wings The Story of Henry David Thoreau  Henry David's House by Henry David Thoreau  Collected Poems of Henry Thoreau  Walden, or Life in the Woods Poster  Autumnal Tints Audio CD Reading by Brett Barry.  Kindle 6" Display, U.S. & International Wireless |
There
is, no doubt, a perfect analogy between the life of the human being and
that of the vegetable, both of the body and the mind. The botanist (Asa) Gray says : "The organs of plants are of two sorts - 1. Those of Vegetation, which are concerned in growth - by which the plant takes in the aerial and earthy matters on which it lives, and elaborates them into the materials of its own organized substance; 2. Those of Fructification or Reproduction, which are concerned withthe propagation of the species." So is it with the human being. I am concerned first to come to my Growth, intellectually and morally (and physically, of course, as a means to this, for the body is the symbol of the soul), and then to bear my Fruit, do my Work, propagate my kind, not only physically but morally, not only in body but in mind. "The organs of vegetation are the Root, Stem, and Leaves. The Stem is the axis and original basis of the plant. The first point of the stem preexists in the embryo (i. e. in the rudimentary plantlet contained within the seed): it is here called the radicle." Such is the rudiment of mind, already partially developed, more than a bud, but pale, having never been exposed to the light, and slumbering coiled up, packed away in the seed, unfolded. May 20, 1851 Other Entries October 29 November 1 November 6 November 10 November 11 November 14 November 20 November 27 December 6 December 16 January 7 February 21 February 25 March 1 March 7 March 11 March 19 April 3 May 1 May 3 May 9 May 10 May 19 |