"The American Scholar"

One challenging passage in "The American Scholar" is the part about the second great influence on scholars. This influence is the "mind of the past," which can many times be represented in books. Emerson states, "It came into him, life; it went out from him, truth. It came to him, short-lived actions; it went out from him, immortal thoughts." In this quotation, the author is showing that wisdom and knowledge can be derived from reading certain books. The word "immortal" is especially important diction because it shows that what is gained from reading is so powerful that it is not even at human's level. Emerson states, "As no air-pump can by any means make a perfect vacuum" to show the faults with just reading. The importance of reading books is to promote thinking, not to just agree with what past scholars have written. In fact, Emerson states, "Meek young men grow up in libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views, which Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon, have given, forgetful that Cicero, Locke, and Bacon were only young men in libraries, when they wrote these books." These meek people are not taking advantage of the information they are reading and are just believing what other well-known scholars have proclaimed without ever expanding on the concepts themselves. Emerson calls these people "bookworms." This is how he shows the faults with books and how "books are the best of things, well used; abused, among the worst." He also describes the "active soul," or an active thinker, as one of the most valuable things a scholar can be. Books are supposed to inspire scholars to have this "active soul" by giving them complex concepts to think about and the ability to "invent" new theories or concepts.