Quote

“

It is a mischievous notion that we are come late into nature; that the world was finished a long time ago.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

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What does this quotation mean?

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

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Source: Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson , The American Scholar

Edition: Edna H. L. Turpin selection

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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.

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