Nature Summary and Analysis

Man is as much a part of nature as the trees, flowers, sunsets and snowflakes, Emerson observes. Nature is what nurtures and heals mankind; the cities and towns do not provide this connection with the divine through nature. Within nature man finds his "moral sensibility" as if by osmosis rather than through his own will or intellect, according to Emerson. Nature provides every creature with the means and tools of survival through the instincts, at the same time she equips another creature to kill the first for food. Nature equips every creature with "a small excess of his proper quality," Emerson says, with the result instincts such as fear may cause us many false alarms but also may well save our life by enabling us to avoid real danger.

Our instincts for security may produce an all-consuming greed, which never satisfies...