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“The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.”
Emerson connects wisdom with renewed attention, suggesting that curiosity does not always require exotic objects because ordinary experience becomes remarkable when examined closely.
Source note: Nature, Chapter VIII, in Emerson’s discussion of study, inquiry, and finding wonder in ordinary facts.
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“Sweet is the lore which Nature brings.”
Nature is presented as a source of knowledge that can complement formal study by training attention and receptiveness.
Source note: The Tables Turned; the line follows Wordsworth’s claim that a vernal wood can teach moral insight.
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“Nature never did betray the heart that loved her.”
Wordsworth describes long attention to nature as a dependable source of memory, quietness, and moral perspective.
Source note: Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey.
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“I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars.”
The ordinary and the cosmic are placed on the same continuum of wonder, resisting the habit of treating small things as insignificant.
Source note: Song of Myself, in Whitman’s catalogue of equal wonders.
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“All the world seemed new-born.”
Intense attention can make familiar surroundings feel newly encountered, turning an ordinary moment into a renewed experience of landscape and life.
Source note: Travels in Alaska, mountain excursion near the Stickeen; Muir describes the effect of evening light after a strenuous day.
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“The poetry of earth is never dead.”
Seasonal change does not extinguish natural life; the poem hears a continuing voice in both summer and winter.
Source note: On the Grasshopper and Cricket, opening line.