…on haste

I appreciate the incongruity that my affirmation of Emerson’s conviction on intuition (the primary intellect; which transpires spontaneously, fleetly) is in any manner, germane to a discussion on haste.

There are myriad themes prevalent in the output of Emerson; including the espousal of non-conformity, self-reliance, solitude, a universal being or over-soul and the reproof of nonserious travel and to a lesser extent, haste.  For this deprives one of the natural evolution of relationships and intellection, amongst others.

“Bashfulness and apathy are a tough husk, in which a delicate organisation is prevented from premature ripening.”

~ Emerson, Friendship, 1841

To wit: seek not friendships – or any association – impetuously, for one cannot commune with souls who are not yet seasoned; and nature assures this by rebuking impatience.

“If you believe in the soul, do not clutch at sensual sweetness before it is ripe on the slow tree of cause and effect. It is vinegar to the eyes to deal with men of loose and imperfect perception.”

And…“If the hive is disturbed by rash and stupid hands, instead of honey, it will yield us bees.”

~ Emerson, Prudence, 1841

The knowledge of the world comprises three degrees of facility; the first class esteems the symbol: health or wealth, and these possess common sense. The second are poets and artists, who revere the beauty of the symbol, and these exhibit taste. The third class carry spiritual perception, and these – the wise men – treasure the beauty of the thing signified. To achieve the enlightenment of the third class; necessitates time and patience.

And in a culmination of pure serendipity: an anecdote on bees and haste: I recall: immediately after becoming worthy of my Black Belt; the instruction of my first class, when a bee sailed into the room. The Teacher – that would be me – hastened from the room screaming, “a bee; a bee; a bee!” In defence of my affrighted self, it was a really BIG bee.

“If’ll put a girdle round about the earth in forty minutes…” – Puck, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” II, i