But man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround him, stands on tiptoe to foresee the future. He cannot be happy and strong until he too lives with nature in the present, above time.


Select Essays and Poems (ed. 1808)

Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes

But man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround...

But man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround...

But man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround...

But man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround...