There is one mind common to all individual men. Every man is an inlet to the same and to all of the same. He that is once admitted to the right of reason is made a freeman of the whole estate. What Plato has thought, he may think; what a saint has felt, he may feel; what at any time has befallen any man, he can understand. Who hath access to this universal mind is a party to all that is or can be done, for this is the only and sovereign agent.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- All humans share a universal mind that allows anyone to access any truth or feeling.
- In plain terms
- Everyone can understand and feel what others have.
- What can you take from it?
- Trust your reason to connect with all human knowledge.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What universal truths do you feel?
- How do you connect with others?
Another view
People still struggle to understand each other.
More from Ralph Waldo Emerson
It is the fault of our rhetoric that we cannot strongly state one fact without seeming to belie some other.
Permalink to quote #80 All that Shakespeare says of the king, yonder slip of a boy that reads in the corner feels to be true of himself.
Permalink to quote #82 Why should we make account of time, or of magnitude, or of figure? The soul knows how to play with them as a young child plays with graybeards and in churches.
Permalink to quote #79
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