100 words to know before reading Essays

1. The reflexive form of "we," referring to the speaker and others.
2. Used for emphasis to indicate "we" and no one else.

Every law which the state enacts indicates a fact in human nature; that is all. We must in ourselves see the necessary reason of every fact—see how it could and must be. So stand before every

1. Writers who compose poetry, expressing ideas and emotions in verse.
2. Individuals with a creative and imaginative nature, often seen as artistic.

me feel what periods you have lived. A man shall be the Temple of Fame. He shall walk, as the poets have described that goddess, in a robe painted all over with wonderful events and

1. Used as a reflexive pronoun to refer to a group previously mentioned.
2. Used for emphasis to refer to a group previously mentioned.

allegory. Hence Plato said that “poets utter great and wise things which they do not themselves understand.” All the fictions of the Middle Age explain themselves as a masked or frolic

1. A French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution (1769–1821).
2. A layered pastry filled with cream or custard.

or the wings of an eagle in the egg presuppose air. He cannot live without a world. Put Napoleon in an island prison, let his faculties find no men to act on, no Alps to climb, no stake to play

1. A short story, often with animals as characters, conveying a moral lesson.
2. A fictitious narrative or myth.

London and Paris and New York must go the same way. “What is history,” said Napoleon, “but a fable agreed upon?” This life of ours is stuck round with Egypt, Greece, Gaul, England, War,

1. A lifestyle of moving from place to place without permanent settlement.
2. The practice of nomadic tribes or groups in search of resources.

of the lotus and palm, so the Persian court in its magnificent era never gave over the nomadism of its barbarous tribes, but travelled from Ecbatana, where the spring was spent, to Susa in

1. Compliance with standards, rules, or laws.
2. Behavior that matches group norms or expectations.

to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs. Whoso

1. The reflexive form of "you," referring to the person being addressed.
2. Used to emphasize the subject "you."

or the other of which we must be shriven. You may fulfil your round of duties by clearing yourself in the direct, or in the reflex way. Consider whether you have satisfied your relations to

1. Belonging to you (archaic or poetic form of "your").
2. Short for "thyroid" in medical contexts (informal).

and comes to me with his last news from Barbados, why should I not say to him, “Go love thy infant; love thy woodchopper; be good-natured and modest; have that grace; and never varnish your

1. To assert the opposite of a statement made by someone.
2. To be in conflict with or inconsistent with something else.

the faintest native emotion, command my curiosity and respect. Thoughtless people contradict as readily the statement of perceptions as of opinions, or rather much more readily; for they do

1. Requests or expressions made to a deity or higher power.
2. Religious rituals or words spoken in worship.

hidden meaning lies in our endeavors; Our valors are our best gods.” Another sort of false prayers are our regrets. Discontent is the want of self-reliance: it is infirmity of will. Regret

1. A flaw or imperfection in something.
2. To abandon one's country or cause in favor of another.

that no creatures are favorites, but a certain compensation balances every gift and every defect. A surplusage given to one part is paid out of a reduction from another part of the same

1. Sharp intelligence or cleverness.
2. The ability to express humor or quick, amusing remarks.

year is without a dial in his mind. His notebooks impair his memory; his libraries overload his wit; the insurance-office increases the number of accidents; and it may be a question whether

1. Punishment inflicted as vengeance for a wrong or criminal act.
2. A deserved penalty or reward for actions.

or in apparent nature. Men call the circumstance the retribution. The causal retribution is in the thing and is seen by the soul. The retribution in the circumstance is seen by the

1. Short sayings expressing common wisdom or truth.
2. Traditional sayings offering advice or moral lessons.

will not allow the realist to say in his own words, it will suffer him to say in proverbs without contradiction. And this law of laws, which the pulpit, the senate and the college deny,

1. A title used by Roman emperors, derived from Julius Caesar.
2. A type of salad made with romaine lettuce, croutons, and Caesar dressing.

is less intention in history than we ascribe to it. We impute deep-laid farsighted plans to Caesar and Napoleon; but the best of their power was in nature, not in them. Men of an extraordinary

1. A legal document that proves ownership of property.
2. An action or accomplishment, often notable or heroic.

through indolence or cunning, his neighbor’s wares, or horses, or money? There arises on the deed the instant acknowledgment of benefit on the one part and of debt on the other; that is, of

1. Having an excessively high opinion of one's appearance or abilities (conceited).
2. Producing no result; useless (futile).

popular charities; the education at college of fools; the building of meetinghouses to the vain end to which many now stand; alms to sots, and the thousandfold Relief Societies;—though I

1. A person who writes poetry.
2. Someone skilled in the art of verse.

cloud which is always and never the same. She casts the same thought into troops of forms, as a poet makes twenty fables with one moral. Through the bruteness and toughness of matter, a subtle

1. Gentle, kind, or affectionate in manner.
2. Offering something formally, like a bid or resignation.

regards in its general light. The introduction to this felicity is in a private and tender relation of one to one, which is the enchantment of human life; which, like a certain divine rage

1. Takes hold of something forcibly or suddenly.
2. Has a sudden attack, such as a seizure (medical context).

it not; and a thrill of passion flashes light on their dark chamber, and the active power seizes instantly the fit image, as the word of its momentary thought. It is long ere we discover how

1. To enjoy the taste or smell of something fully.
2. To appreciate or delight in an experience or moment.

the upper world, whilst one eye is prowling in the cellar; so that its gravest discourse has a savor of hams and powdering-tubs. Worst, when this sensualism intrudes into the education of young

1. A young unmarried woman.
2. The first occurrence or attempt of something.

everybody with it and with themselves, seems sufficient to itself. The lover cannot paint his maiden to his fancy poor and solitary. Like a tree in flower, so much soft, budding, informing

1. Inspirational goddesses of the arts in Greek mythology.
2. Sources of artistic inspiration or creativity.

fear. With thought, with the ideal, is immortal hilarity, the rose of joy. Round it all the Muses sing. But grief cleaves to names, and persons, and the partial interests of today and yesterday.

1. To achieve or accomplish a goal.
2. To reach a desired level or condition.

have anything to say to him he will try the case; if not, let them forever be silent. He must attain and maintain that lofty sight where facts yield their secret sense, and poetry and annals are

1. Feelings of fondness or love towards someone or something.
2. Emotional states or moods.

of the day. Hideous dreams are exaggerations of the sins of the day. We see our evil affections embodied in bad physiognomies. On the Alps the traveller sometimes beholds his own shadow

1. (archaic) You (singular), used as the object of a verb or preposition.
2. (poetic) A form of 'you' in older or religious texts.

mutation, thou only firm column must presently appear the upholder of all that surrounds thee. He who knows that power is inborn, that he is weak because he has looked for good out of him and

1. The state of being alone without companions.
2. A peaceful or isolated place.

like darts into the ear of men and put them in fear. These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Society everywhere is in

1. A natural liking or connection between people or things.
2. A similarity or relationship between substances or organisms.

moods of mind, and those to which he is averse, he will see how deep is the chain of affinity. A painter told me that nobody could draw a tree without in some sort becoming a tree; or draw a

1. Careful and sensible judgment in practical matters.
2. Cautiousness to avoid risks or dangers.

and Milton. It awaits a truer unfolding in opposition and rebuke to that subterranean prudence which presides at marriages with words that take hold of the upper world, whilst one eye is

1. Hostility or opposition between individuals or groups.
2. The interaction of substances that nullify each other's effects.

by indulging a vein of hostility and bitterness. Though your views are in straight antagonism to theirs, assume an identity of sentiment, assume that you are saying precisely that which all

1. Words of a song expressing personal emotions or thoughts.
2. Relating to poetry meant to be sung, not recited.

did. We have the same national mind expressed for us again in their literature, in epic and lyric poems, drama, and philosophy; a very complete form. Then we have it once more in their

1. Great brightness or radiant beauty.
2. Magnificent and impressive appearance or quality.

susceptible to climate and to country, so alive to social good and evil, so fond of splendor and so tender to hunger and cold and debt—reads all its primary lessons out of these books.

1. Prepared and used for growing crops or plants.
2. Refined or educated in manners, tastes, or intellect.

college. It is easy enough for a firm man who knows the world to brook the rage of the cultivated classes. Their rage is decorous and prudent, for they are timid, as being very vulnerable

1. A type of cured and spiced pork from Italy, similar to ham.
2. A poetic term for a laurel wreath or crown, symbolizing victory or honor.

Richard the Third oppresses and slays a score of innocent persons, as when Antonio and Tasso, both apparently right, wrong each other. One living after the maxims of this world and

1. Small or meager in amount (e.g., a paltry sum of money).
2. Insignificant or trivial in value or importance.

seers. And who has not seen the tragedy of imprudent genius struggling for years with paltry pecuniary difficulties, at last sinking, chilled, exhausted and fruitless, like a giant

1. (archaic) Third person singular present of 'have'.
2. (poetic/literary) Used to indicate possession or obligation.

Prudence concerns the present time, persons, property and existing forms. But as every fact hath its roots in the soul, and if the soul were changed, would cease to be, or would become some

1. Disregard for something considered unworthy or beneath notice.
2. A feeling of scorn or disdain towards someone or something.

is clean contrary to a sensual prosperity; for every heroic act measures itself by its contempt of some external good. But it finds its own success at last, and then the prudent also extol.

1. Acting with or showing care and thought for the future.
2. Wise or judicious in practical affairs.

quickly in some sort. Labor is watched over by the same pitiless laws. Cheapest, say the prudent, is the dearest labor. What we buy in a broom, a mat, a wagon, a knife, is some application of

1. To see or observe something, often with awe or wonder.
2. An exclamation used to draw attention to something remarkable.

things that stare us in the face, until the hour arrives when the mind is ripened; then we behold them, and the time when we saw them not is like a dream. Not in nature but in man is all the

1. The distance around the edge of a circle.
2. The boundary or perimeter of any curved shape.

to this primary and aboriginal sentiment we have come from our remote station on the circumference instantaneously to the centre of the world, where, as in the closet of God, we see causes, and

1. The state of being more powerful, common, or noticeable than others.
2. Superiority in influence, number, or importance.

not a mass of facts. The law dissolves the fact and holds it fluid. Our culture is the predominance of an idea which draws after it this train of cities and institutions. Let us rise into another

1. Ancient Greek philosopher, student of Plato, teacher of Alexander the Great.
2. Founder of the Peripatetic school of philosophy.

and Plato are reckoned the respective heads of two schools. A wise man will see that Aristotle platonizes. By going one step farther back in thought, discordant opinions are reconciled by

1. The side of a person's or animal's body between the ribs and hip.
2. A cut of meat from the side of an animal.

and no man knows what is safe, or where it will end. There is not a piece of science but its flank may be turned tomorrow; there is not any literary reputation, not the so-called eternal names of

1. In a natural or raw state; not processed or refined.
2. Lacking tact or sophistication; blunt or offensive.

a state of mind which readily appears wherever the doctrine of Theism is taught in a crude, objective form, and which seems the self-defence of man against this untruth, namely a

1. The state of being present everywhere at the same time.
2. A divine attribute of being all-present.

by what remains to me of the month or the year; for these moments confer a sort of omnipresence and omnipotence which asks nothing of duration, but sees that the energy of the mind is

1. Happening naturally without planning or external influence.
2. Done or arising from impulse rather than deliberate thought.

of his church. Do I not know beforehand that not possibly can he say a new and spontaneous word? Do I not know that with all this ostentation of examining the grounds of the institution he

1. Pay attention to; take notice of.
2. Careful consideration or attention.

and the most natural thing in the world, they add thesis to thesis, without a moment’s heed of the universal astonishment of the human race below, who do not comprehend their plainest

1. Great pleasure or joy.
2. Things that cause happiness or enjoyment.

good-natured shop-boy. In the village they are on a perfect equality, which love delights in, and without any coquetry the happy, affectionate nature of woman flows out in this pretty

1. A surname, notably of philosopher Immanuel Kant.
2. A term in weaving meaning the edge of a fabric.

regard to abstract truth, the science of the mind. The Bacon, the Spinoza, the Hume, Schelling, Kant, or whosoever propounds to you a philosophy of the mind, is only a more or less awkward

1. Partial or total darkness; dimness.
2. A state of melancholy or depression.

over which no enemy can follow us:— “Let them rave: Thou art quiet in thy grave.” In the gloom of our ignorance of what shall be, in the hour when we are deaf to the higher voices, who does

1. To write, carve, or engrave words or symbols on a surface.
2. To enter a name on a list or register.

as the artist’s pen or chisel seems to have been held and guided by a gigantic hand to inscribe a line in the history of the human race. This circumstance gives a value to the Egyptian

1. Observers or spectators, often with keen perception.
2. In fantasy, a type of monster with a large eye and magical abilities.

in his work, so far it will retain a certain grandeur, and will represent to future beholders the Unknown, the Inevitable, the Divine. No man can quite exclude this element of Necessity from

1. In the middle of; surrounded by.
2. During; at a time when something else is happening.

and festoons we cut the stem short. And I must hazard the production of the bald fact amidst these pleasing reveries, though it should prove an Egyptian skull at our banquet. A man who

1. A metal tool with a sharp edge for carving or cutting hard materials.
2. To cheat or swindle someone out of money.

in those processes with which he is conversant, the stern ethics which sparkle on his chisel-edge, which are measured out by his plumb and foot-rule, which stand as manifest in the footing

1. A public display of art, artifacts, or other items of interest.
2. A demonstration of skills or abilities, often in a competitive setting.

the chisel or the pencil. But the artist and the connoisseur now seek in art the exhibition of their talent, or an asylum from the evils of life. Men are not well pleased with the figure

1. A three-dimensional artwork created by shaping materials like stone, metal, or clay.
2. The art or practice of making such works.

rock. There are men whose manners have the same essential splendor as the simple and awful sculpture on the friezes of the Parthenon and the remains of the earliest Greek art. And there are

1. A large-scale musical work for orchestra and voices, typically on a sacred theme, performed without costumes or scenery.
2. A dramatic composition resembling opera but without staging or acting.

voice when it speaks from its instant life tones of tenderness, truth, or courage. The oratorio has already lost its relation to the morning, to the sun, and the earth, but that persuading

1. Symbols or designs representing ideas, organizations, or nations.
2. Distinctive badges or signs used for identification.

rites. The inwardness and mystery of this attachment drives men of every class to the use of emblems. The schools of poets and philosophers are not more intoxicated with their symbols than the

1. A transformation or change in form, structure, or substance.
2. In biology, the process of development where an organism undergoes significant physical changes (e.g., caterpillar to butterfly).

when as Isis in Egypt she meets Osiris-Jove, a beautiful woman with nothing of the metamorphosis left but the lunar horns as the splendid ornament of her brows! The identity of history is

1. A sudden strong urge or desire to act.
2. A brief force or push causing motion.

for a time, to the voice of the great and good. Heroism is an obedience to a secret impulse of an individual’s character. Now to no other man can its wisdom appear as it does to him, for

1. Physical strength and energy.
2. Healthy growth or vitality.

because it no longer admits of its growth, and slowly forms a new house. In proportion to the vigor of the individual these revolutions are frequent, until in some happier mind they are incessant

1. Deep respect or admiration for someone or something.
2. A gesture or act showing respect, such as a bow.

but they must turn the whole head. The manners of that period are plain and fierce. The reverence exhibited is for personal qualities; courage, address, self-command, justice, strength,

1. Actions or things done, especially brave or noble ones.
2. Legal documents that transfer ownership of property.

reason for the choice of his daily craft or profession. It is not an excuse any longer for his deeds that they are the custom of his trade. What business has he with an evil trade? Has he not a

1. Fluent and persuasive speaking or writing.
2. The ability to express oneself clearly and powerfully.

Conversation is an evanescent relation—no more. A man is reputed to have thought and eloquence; he cannot, for all that, say a word to his cousin or his uncle. They accuse his silence with as

1. A hero in Greek and Roman mythology known for his strength and twelve labors.
2. A large northern constellation representing the mythological hero.

the body. In it existed those human forms which supplied the sculptor with his models of Hercules, Phoebus, and Jove; not like the forms abounding in the streets of modern cities, wherein the

1. A sudden shaking or trembling of the ground, often caused by seismic activity.
2. To shake or tremble violently, usually due to fear or cold.

or bad neighbors, or poverty, or mutilation, or at the rumor of revolution, or of murder? If I quake, what matters it what I quake at? Our proper vice takes form in one or another shape, according

1. A wise person known for experience and judgment.
2. An aromatic plant used in cooking and medicine.

to Homer as Agamemnon’s victories are to Agamemnon. The poet does not wait for the hero or the sage, but, as they act and think primarily, so he writes primarily what will and must be spoken,

1. A form of government where power is held by a small, privileged ruling class.
2. The highest social class in certain societies, typically comprising nobles.

manners and name of that interest, saying that it was indispensable to send to the old aristocracy of Europe men of the same connection, which, in fact, constitutes a sort of freemasonry. M. de

1. Medieval knightly system with moral, social, and religious codes.
2. Courteous behavior, especially toward women.

degrees of latitude, why should I count Egyptian years? The student interprets the age of chivalry by his own age of chivalry, and the days of maritime adventure and circumnavigation by quite

1. A tribute or show of respect, often formal or public.
2. Historical: A feudal ceremony acknowledging loyalty to a lord.

always ancient virtue. We worship it today because it is not of today. We love it and pay it homage because it is not a trap for our love and homage, but is self-dependent, self-derived, and

1. Lacking seriousness or importance; trivial.
2. Carefree and not concerned with serious matters.

and patches, but he will live with a divine unity. He will cease from what is base and frivolous in his life and be content with all places and with any service he can render. He will calmly

1. A court of public records, especially for wills and deeds.
2. The office or department of a chancellor.

bankruptcy; that the world owes the world more than the world can pay, and ought to go into chancery and be sold. I do not think this general insolvency, which involves in some sort all the

1. The inability to pay debts when they are due.
2. A financial state where liabilities exceed assets.

the world can pay, and ought to go into chancery and be sold. I do not think this general insolvency, which involves in some sort all the population, to be the reason of the difficulty experienced

1. Giving or presenting something as a gift or honor.
2. Conferring a title, right, or privilege upon someone.

be the reason of the difficulty experienced at Christmas and New Year and other times, in bestowing gifts; since it is always so pleasant to be generous, though very vexatious to pay debts. But the

1. Causing annoyance, frustration, or worry.
2. (Legal) Lacking sufficient grounds and serving only to harass the opposing party.

times, in bestowing gifts; since it is always so pleasant to be generous, though very vexatious to pay debts. But the impediment lies in the choosing. If at any time it comes into my head that

1. An obstacle or hindrance that slows progress.
2. A speech disorder, such as a stutter.

it is always so pleasant to be generous, though very vexatious to pay debts. But the impediment lies in the choosing. If at any time it comes into my head that a present is due from me to

1. (adjective) Harsh, strict, or severe in manner or appearance.
2. (noun) The rear part of a ship or boat.

my friends, embark on the sea and at last wake up in Naples, and there beside me is the stern fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from. I seek the Vatican and the palaces.

1. A person's face or facial expression.
2. Support or approval of something.

and abject it will infuse a heart and courage to defy the world, so only it have the countenance of the beloved object. In giving him to another it still more gives him to himself. He is a new

1. Play or move about cheerfully, energetically, or excitedly.
2. A lighthearted or playful activity or adventure.

our hands. Of course the value of genius to us is in the veracity of its report. Talent may frolic and juggle; genius realizes and adds. Mankind in good earnest have availed so far in

1. Excessive or insincere praise to gain favor.
2. Compliments given to manipulate or please someone.

the father of the gods. But what rebuke their plain fraternal bearing casts on the mutual flattery with which authors solace each other and wound themselves! These flatter not. I do not wonder

1. Uncommon in occurrence or experience.

of the shop-bill as in the history of a state—do recommend to him his trade, and though seldom named, exalt his business to his imagination. The league between virtue and nature engages all

1. The smallest unit of a chemical element.
2. A basic building block of matter.

never put off, and may deal with him with the simplicity and wholeness with which one chemical atom meets another. Sincerity is the luxury allowed, like diadems and authority, only to the highest

1. Agreement or concord in feelings, actions, or opinions.
2. A pleasing combination of musical notes.

on him, and another none. This sculpture in the memory is not without preestablished harmony. The eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify of that particular ray. We

1. To allow oneself to enjoy something pleasurable.
2. To yield to desires or whims.

to this beating heart, the steps and forms of the gifted and the true! The moment we indulge our affections, the earth is metamorphosed; there is no winter and no night; all tragedies, all

1. Magical spells or charms that captivate or delight.
2. The state of being under a magical spell.

are in the ground, the waters, the plants, the heavens, and how to come at these enchantments—is the rich and royal man. Only as far as the masters of the world have called in nature to

1. A small stream or creek.
2. To tolerate or endure something (usually negative).

as old rubbish. When a man lives with God, his voice shall be as sweet as the murmur of the brook and the rustle of the corn. And now at last the highest truth on this subject remains unsaid;

1. A written law passed by a legislative body.
2. A formal rule or regulation of an organization.

which permits it. The law is only a memorandum. We are superstitious, and esteem the statute somewhat: so much life as it has in the character of living men is its force. The statute stands

1. Relating to or characteristic of a monarch or monarchy.
2. Pertaining to a system of government with a single ruler, such as a king or queen.

we are nowise qualified to judge of monarchy, which, to our fathers living in the monarchical idea, was also relatively right. But our institutions, though in coincidence with the spirit of

1. Groups of animals, especially large mammals, that live or move together.
2. To gather, lead, or manage animals in a group.

should be provided, must not Laban and Isaac, and those who must sell part of their herds to buy protection for the rest, judge better of this, and with more right, than Jacob, who,

1. Owners of a business or property.
2. Individuals who legally possess and control an establishment.

distinction was that the proprietors should have more elective franchise than non-proprietors, on the Spartan principle of “calling that which is just, equal; not that which is equal, just.”

1. A form of government with a single ruler, usually a king or queen, holding supreme authority.
2. A state or nation governed by a monarch.

present time accords better with it. Born democrats, we are nowise qualified to judge of monarchy, which, to our fathers living in the monarchical idea, was also relatively right. But our

1. Disappears suddenly or completely.
2. Ceases to exist or be present.

it borrows all its size from the momentary estimation of the speakers: the Will-of-the-wisp vanishes if you go too near, vanishes if you go too far, and only blazes at one angle. Who can tell if

1. To deduce or conclude from evidence and reasoning.
2. To imply or suggest something without stating it directly.

not meet in either of those nations a single individual who corresponded with the type. We infer the spirit of the nation in great measure from the language, which is a sort of monument to which

1. The scientific study of celestial objects, space, and the universe.
2. The branch of science that deals with planets, stars, galaxies, and other cosmic phenomena.

of rhetoric and literature, and to be at once poetry and music and dancing and astronomy and mathematics. I am present at the sowing of the seed of the world. With a geometry of sunbeams

1. A person who lives alone and avoids others.
2. Someone who withdraws from society for solitude.

hellebore at the bottom of the cup. Solitude would ripen a plentiful crop of despots. The recluse thinks of men as having his manner, or as not having his manner; and as having degrees of it,

1. Formal agreements or protocols followed by groups or societies.
2. Standard practices or customs in a particular field.

than before by a new thousand of eyes and arms. In like manner the reformers summon conventions and vote and resolve in multitude. Not so, O friends! will the God deign to enter and inhabit

1. To disagree or hold a different opinion, especially from a majority or authority.
2. A formal statement of disagreement, often in a legal or political context.

and reliance on spiritual facts. In politics for example it is easy to see the progress of dissent. The country is full of rebellion; the country is full of kings. Hands off! let there be no

1. A metabolic process converting sugars to acids, gases, or alcohol using yeast or bacteria.
2. The chemical breakdown of organic substances by microorganisms, often producing heat and bubbles.

we eat and drink damnation. These made unleavened bread, and were foes to the death to fermentation. It was in vain urged by the housewife that God made yeast, as well as dough, and loves

1. A person who gives help, especially financial aid or support.
2. Someone who donates to a cause or institution.

and commerce, and churches, cheap. For when men shall meet as they ought, each a benefactor, a shower of stars, clothed with thoughts, with deeds, with accomplishments, it should be the