Every soul is by this intrinsic necessity quitting its whole system of things, its friends, and home, and laws, and faith, as the shellfish crawls out of its beautiful but stony case, because it no longer admits of its growth, and slowly forms a new house.

A young bamboo shoot growing among mature bamboo in soft morning light. — AI-generated editorial illustration · Quotations

What does this quotation mean?

From Compensation of Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Read the surrounding argument as well as the excerpt; its historical language and philosophical assumptions shape its meaning.

Sources and attribution

Verified

Source: Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson , Compensation

Edition: Edna H. L. Turpin selection

View reference ↗

From Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Excerpt checked against the linked public-domain English edition. Korean rendering and context note by Quotations; not an authorized translation. Historical punctuation is retained; line breaks and editorial footnote markers are normalized.

Suggest an attribution correction ↗

Keep exploring

QUOTATION Verified

but it’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.

— Lewis Carroll ↗

A river flowing around smooth stones beneath a willow at sunset.

QUOTATION Verified

She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it),

— Lewis Carroll ↗

An open book and a ceramic tea cup beside a garden window.

QUOTATION Verified

I dearly love a laugh.

— Jane Austen ↗

QUOTATION Verified

Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.

— Jane Austen ↗