The Value of Nature

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Albert Einstein, a German-born theoretical physicist, once said, “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better” (Wilkes, Nature's Secret Messages: Hidden in Plain Sight). Einstein is referring to nature as a portal into the unknown. Initially, one can find the answers to any question, in nature. This idea refers to the Romantic authors as they write about nature. One Romantic author, Whitman, has written two poems, Song of Myself, and When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer, illustrating the value of nature. Another Romantic author, Emerson, has written an essay, Nature, which also reflects the importance of nature. As these authors write their literature about nature, they illustrate the importance that it brings to oneself, community, God, and those relationships. It is important for modern readers to value nature, as the Romantic authors did, because it is there that one reflects on oneself, finds a better understanding of life and their surroundings, and becomes closer to God.
It is important for modern readers to value nature, as the Romantic authors did, because it is there that one reflects on oneself. Emerson illustrates the importance of isolation in nature as he writes:
“To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society…But if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars. The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and what he touches. One might think the atmosphere was made transparent with this design, to give man, in the heavenly bodies, the perpetual presence of the sublime” (Emerson, Nature).
Emerson writes that in order to be alone, one must ‘retire,’ or temporarily give up the same amount ‘from his chamber,’ or of his possessio...

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...ects on oneself, finds a better understanding of life and their surroundings, and become closer to God. As nature helps one reflects on oneself, is gives them an opportunity to realize who they truly are as a person. Nature gives one a better understanding of life and their surroundings, because nature is life. Nature as well allows one to become closer to God, as one can commonly find God in nature. If one never value nature, one may never truly know oneself, understand life and their surroundings, and have a direct relationship with God.

Works Cited
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Nature. Boston: James Munroe, 1836. N. pag. Print.
Whitman, Walt. Song of Myself. Walt Whitman, 1855-1892. Print.
Whitman, Walt. When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer. Walt Whitman, 1865. Print.
Wilkes, Elaine. Nature's Secret Messages: Hidden in Plain Sight. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2010. Print.

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