Nature
‹ 6 · Outline · 8 ›
7.The state of nature and the natural man
7a.Rousseau's state of nature against Hobbes
See also: Progress 1c · Family 1c · Man 8d
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 78–79Idealized pastoral nature freely offers acorns, fountains, bees and cork bark, a bountiful mother earth uncompelled by tillage.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The TempestVol. 46
- p. 419Gonzalo's imagined commonwealth of nature and innocence without laws or crafts.read · scan
- p. 419–422Nature would bring forth abundance of its own accord, without labor or engines, to feed innocent people.read · scan
Sir Henry Vane, A Healing QuestionVol. 43
- p. 120Argues the people's right is natural, restored by success of arms.read · scan
Alexander Pope, Solitude; On a Certain Lady at Court; Essay on ManVol. 40
- p. 422The state of nature was the reign of God, with self-love and social united, man and beast at peace.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among MankindVol. 34
- p. 166–167Claims to read man's history in the book of nature which never lies, not in books by liars.read · scan
- p. 169Untouched earth gives food and shelter; nature, like Sparta, strengthens the well-formed and destroys the rest.read · scan
- p. 169–170Describes the state of nature, its uniformity and natural man's condition, against Hobbes's view.read · scan
- p. 172The simple solitary life prescribed by nature preserves health; reflection is called a state against nature.read · scan
- p. 172–173Nature favors creatures left to her care; the savage state is healthier than the social.read · scan
- p. 173–174Primitive men need neither clothes nor houses; unnecessaries are not real needs in the natural state.read · scan
- p. 176Original natural condition of peace and innocence is left by slow degrees.read · scan
- p. 178–180Describes the state of nature as scattered, isolated existence among animals.read · scan
- p. 180State of nature has no houses, property or permanent unions; ideas from civil society should not be transferred to it.read · scan
- p. 185The state of nature is defended against charges of misery; nature did little to make men sociable.read · scan
- p. 187Argues the state of nature is most favourable to peace and that Hobbes wrongly imports social passions into it.read · scan
- p. 190–191Men in the state of nature were wild rather than wicked, with tame passions.read · scan
- p. 191–192Natural man follows nature's impulses, not acquired taste.read · scan
- p. 192Contrasts man in the state of nature with society, which multiplies duels, murders and dissoluteness.read · scan
- p. 193–194A true picture of the state of nature shows natural inequality to be slight.read · scan
- p. 194Natural difference between men is far less in the state of nature than in society.read · scan
- p. 194Natural gifts like strength, beauty and wit give little advantage without social relations.read · scan
- p. 195–196Inequality in a state of nature is almost imperceptible with little influence.read · scan
- p. 205The goodness of heart suited to the pure state of nature did not suit infant society.read · scan
- p. 218–219Contrasts natural gifts with property, a mere human convention.read · scan
- p. 225Return to a new state of nature, resulting from corruption rather than purity.read · scan
- p. 226Traces path from natural to civil state; the savage wants only repose and liberty, the citizen toils restlessly.read · scan
- p. 226Natural inclinations are changed by the spirit of society.read · scan
- p. 228There is scarce any inequality in a state of nature; natural right is the standard for judging inequality.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Profession of Faith of a Savoyard VicarVol. 34
- p. 261–262Nature is an undisturbed order; men in primeval simplicity suffer few evils, and human improvements bring misery.read · scan
Friedrich von Schiller, Letters upon the Aesthetic Education of ManVol. 32
- p. 275–276To the savage nature is only prey or enemy, not an object of contemplation.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-RelianceVol. 5
- p. 80Civilized man loses aboriginal strength and instincts as he gains arts.read · scan
7b.The simple life, wildness and the return to nature
The Book of JobVol. 44
- p. 135Wild creatures live free in wilderness and mountains, beyond human service.read · scan
Euripides, HippolytusVol. 8
- p. 334–335Chorus longs for hills, sea, gardens and rivers as an escape from suffering.read · scan
Euripides, The BacchaeVol. 8
- p. 399The women live in harmony with wild things, suckling fawns and wolf cubs and drawing springs from earth.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 366Metabus shuns men and lives in the open air, hills and dens, a solitary shepherd life.read · scan
Amerigo Vespucci, Amerigo Vespucci's Account of His First VoyageVol. 43
- p. 28They live contented with what nature gives them.read · scan
Michel de Montaigne, The Author to the ReaderVol. 32
- p. 4Wishes he lived under Nature's first uncorrupted laws so he could portray himself naked; only public reverence restrains him.read · scan
Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and MoralVol. 3
- p. 115–116Wants the heath framed to natural wildness, with flowers scattered like wild heaths rather than in order.read · scan
Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, Philaster, or Love Lies A-BleedingVol. 47
- p. 679The orphan lives on roots, springs and sunlight, cared for by the fields.read · scan
- p. 716–717Philaster longs for a simple woodland life with a chaste mountain girl, free from vexation of court and crowns.read · scan
John Milton, Poems Written at Horton, 1632-1638Vol. 4
- p. 57–62Comus argues Nature poured her bounties for pleasure and that refusal wrongs her gifts.read · scan
- p. 62Comus claims nature's plenty must be consumed and displayed; the Lady replies nature provides only for those living by her sober laws.read · scan
Andrew Marvell, PoemsVol. 40
- p. 377–379Retreat into green trees, fruit and fountains, whose beauties exceed a mistress's.read · scan
John Dryden, All for Love; or, The World Well LostVol. 18
- p. 26–29Antony fantasizes retiring to a forest, a commoner of nature among the herd.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 509Land once in nature's simple charms now decked in barren splendour.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Tragedy of Faust, Part IVol. 19
- p. 143–145Faust's joy in wandering the wilderness; Mephistopheles mockingly describes rapture embracing heaven and earth.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, EgmontVol. 19
- p. 319He contrasts oppressive walls with the wide champaign, where earth and stars give richness and vigour.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 496–499Preference for the lonely valley, dewy eve and moon over the city and its show.read · scan
Friedrich von Schiller, Letters upon the Aesthetic Education of ManVol. 32
- p. 220Nations fall off from nature by abuse of reason before they can return to it through reason.read · scan
William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 602–604Birds live free and quiet with Nature, while men are pressed by heavy laws and forced cheer.read · scan
- p. 606–608Ruth grows wild like a child of the woods, making music from a straw pipe.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 52She lives as an animal in the wild, sheltered by a tree and covered by her hair.read · scan
Lord Byron, ManfredVol. 18
- p. 423He delighted in wilderness, mountain peaks, torrents, moon and lightning rather than men.read · scan
George Gordon, Lord Byron, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 794–796He still worships Nature with profound thought, and returns to the scenes of his beginnings.read · scan
Percy Bysshe Shelley, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 825–827Poet loves earth, snow, waves, winds and storms, things of Nature untainted by man's misery; sunlit seascape.read · scan
- p. 844–845Flight from towns to wild wood and sea where Nature's art harmonizes heart to heart and all things seem one in the Sun.read · scan
Thomas Carlyle, CharacteristicsVol. 25
- p. 338Older writers loved nature and dwelt in communion with her; modern view-hunting makes scenery description an affectation.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-RelianceVol. 5
- p. 59Verses of nature-training, suckled by the she-wolf, wintered with hawk and fox; the original and spontaneous opposed to the conventional.read · scan
- p. 71Roses and leaf-buds exist perfectly in every moment, satisfying nature; man should live with nature.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, The PoetVol. 5
- p. 181The poet withdraws to nature, owning woods, sea and rivers, finding beauty everywhere.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1241–1243Retreat from the proud world to woods, flowers and birds, where mysteries are figured.read · scan
- p. 1252–1253The woodsman is guided by streams, moss and berries; Nature is faithful to those who trust her.read · scan
- p. 1253–1254Pine-tree praises a life in nature: it gives strength, defence and grace to those who dwell with it.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On LibertyVol. 25
- p. 240–241Rousseau stressed the worth of simplicity of life against the demoralizing hypocrisies of artificial society.read · scan
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 983–985Nature contrasted with civilization; primitive isles as retreat.read · scan
Henry David Thoreau, WalkingVol. 28
- p. 395Thoreau speaks for wildness and absolute freedom, regarding man as part of Nature rather than a member of society.read · scan
- p. 398Walking outdoors, not exercise like medicine, seeks the springs of life; the study is out of doors.read · scan
- p. 399Walking should take us truly into fields and woods, not gardens; mind must be present in the woods, not the village.read · scan
- p. 399–400Man's improvements deform the landscape; Thoreau delights that man and civilization occupy so little space in it.read · scan
- p. 400–401Thoreau walks out into a Nature such as old prophets and poets walked in, truer in mythology than history.read · scan
- p. 401–403The unowned landscape is a common enjoyment, and the spring stirs an instinct to travel.read · scan
- p. 403A subtle magnetism in Nature directs the walker's course; the wilderness lies west, the city east.read · scan
- p. 408–409In Wildness is the preservation of the World; the wild source nourishes men and the founders of states.read · scan
- p. 409–410Praises wildness and wants man to be part and parcel of Nature, smelling of grass and woods rather than merchants' exchanges.read · scan
- p. 410Life consists with wildness; he prefers quaking swamps to lawns, cultivated gardens and ornamental front-yards.read · scan
- p. 411–412Prefers wilderness and swamp to the finest garden; the swamp is a sacred place, the strength and marrow of Nature.read · scan
- p. 415All good things are wild and free; Nature has a place for wild clematis as well as cabbage.read · scan
- p. 416Wildness of untamed creatures and men is valued over broken, civilized submissiveness.read · scan
Walt Whitman, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1410–1411The poet longs for sun, fields, solitude and nature's primal sanities, tired by the war.read · scan
Matthew Arnold, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1136–1138Wordsworth returns men to the lap of earth, hills, breeze and freshness of the early world.read · scan
7c.Nature as education and as the source of moral life
See also: Liberty 1d
John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning EducationVol. 37
- p. 42Playful gaiety is wisely adapted by nature to childhood and should be encouraged.read · scan
- p. 46–47Plain rough nature left to itself is better than artificial awkwardness.read · scan
Friedrich von Schiller, Letters upon the Aesthetic Education of ManVol. 32
- p. 212Nature acts for man until he can act as independent intelligence.read · scan
- p. 217–218The savage submits to nature as despot, the barbarian dishonours it; the cultivated man honours nature while bridling its caprice.read · scan
- p. 227Nature's physical creation shows the road for moral creation: elemental strife must cease before higher form.read · scan
- p. 263–264Nature releases man after the germ of humanity is placed in his heart.read · scan
- p. 272Nature can render the passage from brute nature to beauty easier.read · scan
- p. 280From slave of nature he becomes her lawgiver when he reflects on her objects and laws.read · scan
William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 614–615Natural objects taught the poet to feel for human passions and reflect on man's heart.read · scan
- p. 635Nature was all in all to the boy, an appetite and passion; the man finds in her the guide and guardian of his moral being.read · scan
Charles Lamb, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 735–736Hester, though bred by Quaker parents, was trained in Nature's school.read · scan
Thomas Carlyle, Inaugural Address at EdinburghVol. 25
- p. 380Healthy children's gifts are best developed by Nature herself with little assistance.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American ScholarVol. 5
- p. 7Nature is the first influence on the scholar; its continuity resembles his own spirit and its laws are laws of his mind.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-RelianceVol. 5
- p. 61Nature's oracles appear in the faces of children, babes and brutes.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, The PoetVol. 5
- p. 175Children's true toys should be sun, moon, animals and water; simple nature suffices for inspiration.read · scan
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, MontaigneVol. 32
- p. 117Nature extracts effects of constancy and patience from the poor, more pure than schools teach.read · scan
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1292–1294Nature as old nurse gives the child a story-book written by the Father and sings the rhymes of the universe.read · scan
John Greenleaf Whittier, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1355–1356The barefoot boy walks hand in hand with nature, which answers all he asks; the natural world is his delight and teacher.read · scan
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 981–982Nature brings solace through child; honest Nature's rule versus social forms.read · scan
John Ruskin, Sesame and LiliesVol. 28
- p. 147–148Nature herself shapes the girl through storm, cloud and dell, acting as law and impulse, kindling or restraining.read · scan
- p. 151–152Girl's character grows naturally like a flower or fawn, needing air and sun.read · scan
- p. 153–154Wild and fair nature is a great educator, as in Joan of Arc's upbringing by forest and fountain.read · scan
- p. 154England's gardens and countryside should be kept for children, not turned to furnace-ground for profit.read · scan
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