Disclaimer: The following content has been generated by ai.
The law of harmonic sounds reappears in the harmonic colors. The granite is differenced in its laws only by the more or less of heat from the river that wears it away. The river, as it flows, resembles the air that flows over it; the air resembles the light which traverses it with more subtile currents; the light resembles the heat which rides with it through Space. Each creature is only a modification of the other; the likeness in them is more than the difference, and their radical law is one and the same. A rule of one art, or a law of one organization, holds true throughout nature. So intimate is this Unity, that, it is easily seen, it lies under the undermost garment of Nature, and betrays its source in Universal Spirit. For it pervades Thought also. Every universal truth which we express in words, implies or supposes every other truth. Omne verum vero consonat. It is like a great circle on a sphere, comprising all possible circles; which, however, may be drawn and comprise it in like manner. Every such truth is the absolute Ens seen from one side. But it has innumerable sides.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
This passage from Ralph Waldo Emerson is a poetic-philosophical meditation on the unity underlying all of nature, art, and thought.
Here’s a breakdown of what it means:
1. Patterns repeat across different domains
When Emerson says “The law of harmonic sounds reappears in the harmonic colors,” he’s drawing an analogy between music and visual art, suggesting that the same harmonic proportion or natural order shows up both in sound (music) and in color (light). This is a kind of correspondence—the same mathematical or aesthetic truth echoed in different sensory realms.
2. Differences are variations of the same fundamental principle
The comparisons—granite shaped by a river, air flowing over the river, light passing through air, heat traveling through space—all reinforce that natural phenomena are variations of the same underlying forces.
The “likeness in them is more than the difference.” In essence: the same law works everywhere, only expressed with different materials or energies.
3. The unity is radical—coming from a Universal Spirit
Emerson moves from describing physical resemblances to asserting that these correspondences point to a spiritual truth:
“It lies under the undermost garment of Nature, and betrays its source in Universal Spirit.”
This reflects his Transcendentalist belief that the physical world is a manifestation of a single, divine source—a unified reality that pervades everything.
4. Truth is interconnected
The Latin “Omne verum vero consonat” means “all truth agrees with truth.”
Emerson suggests that every universal truth implies all others—much like a great circle on a sphere implies an infinity of other circles. Each truth is a different “side” of the same ultimate reality (absolute Ens—Latin for “Being”).
5. Big idea:
- Nature, art, science, and thought follow one universal law.
- The deeper you look, the more you see unity instead of separation.
- This is both a scientific observation about patterns in the world and a spiritual claim about the oneness of existence.
If you’d like, I can also give you a modern plain-English paraphrase of this quote so the meaning is easier to grasp without losing Emerson’s depth. Would you like me to do that?
Here’s a modern plain-English paraphrase of Emerson’s passage, keeping the essence but making it easier to read:
The law of harmonic sounds reappears in the harmonic colors. The granite is differenced in its laws only by the more or less of heat from the river that wears it away. The river, as it flows, resembles the air that flows over it; the air resembles the light which traverses it with more subtile currents; the light resembles the heat which rides with it through Space. Each creature is only a modification of the other; the likeness in them is more than the difference, and their radical law is one and the same. A rule of one art, or a law of one organization, holds true throughout nature. So intimate is this Unity, that, it is easily seen, it lies under the undermost garment of Nature, and betrays its source in Universal Spirit. For it pervades Thought also. Every universal truth which we express in words, implies or supposes every other truth. Omne verum vero consonat. It is like a great circle on a sphere, comprising all possible circles; which, however, may be drawn and comprise it in like manner. Every such truth is the absolute Ens seen from one side. But it has innumerable sides.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Leave a Reply