Masters of Chiasmus - Ralph Waldo Emerson (Part 2): drmardy.com

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Never Let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You:
Chiasmus and a World of Chiastic Quotations

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Back to Masters of Chiasmus

Ralph Waldo Emerson
(1803-1882)

The following two quotes, both found in Emerson's Journals, further reveal his appreciation for chiasmus, in this instance chiastic repartee:

"The reason of my success
said Garrick to the clergyman is because
I tell fictions as if they were truths
and you, truths as if they were fictions."

"The Arabians say that
Abul Khain, the mystic, and
Abu Ali Seena, the philosopher,
conferred together; and, on parting,
the philosopher said, 'All that he sees I know'
and the mystic said, 'All that he knows I see.'"

Just as he tried to bridge the gap between poetry and philosophy, Emerson also tried to mend the ancient rift between religion and philosophy:

"In the uttermost meaning of the words,
thought is devout,
and devotion is thought."

What Emerson is saying here is that deep, penetrating, reflective thought and deep, devout meditation are virtually synonymous.

"The sensual man conforms thoughts to things;
the poet conforms things to his thoughts."

Here, Emerson crafts a chiastic comparison to describe two very different ways of comprehending the world. One could easily extend the observation to, say, objective and subjective people, with objectivists trying to make sure that perception matches reality, and subjectivists attempting to do the reverse.

Some of Emerson's chiastic observations captured the reality of everyday life:

"Infancy conforms to nobody;
all conform to it."

Anyone who's ever witnessed the effect of a new baby can appreciate the truth of this observation, as adults begin to manifest all kinds of infantile behavior as soon as they find themselves in the presence of the newborn.

Emerson's writings are sprinkled with chiastic aphorisms and epigrams. Here are a dozen of them, presented for your enjoyment without any comment:

"Words are also actions,
and actions are a kind of words."

"The heroic cannot be the common,
nor the common the heroic."

"If a man owns land,
the land owns him."

"Let not a man guard his dignity,
but let his dignity guard him."

"The secret of the world is
the tie between person and event.
Person makes event
and event person."

"For everything you have missed,
you have gained something else;
and for everything you gain,
you lose something."

"Out of sleeping a waking,
Out of waking a sleep."

"The State is our neighbors;
our neighbors are the State."

Every spirit makes its house;
but afterwards the house confines the spirit."

"The democrat is a young conservative;
the conservative is an old democrat."

"All public facts are to be individualized,
all private facts are to be generalized."

"Machinery is aggressive.
The weaver becomes a web, the machinist a machine.
If you do not use the tools,
they use you."

I've noted a number of times that chiasmus is not merely an interesting literary device or simply a method for cleverly turning a phrase. Sometimes it's able to capture some deep and profound truths about human life. Take this quote:

"Speech is better than silence;
silence is better than speech."

At first, this might appear to be a tautology. If you're not familiar with the word, a tautology is a meaningless or empty sentiment that says the same basic thing, but in different words. However, closer examination of this quote reveals that it meets the criterion of a profound truth, for it can justifiably be claimed that both statements are true (for further discussion of this concept, see Neils Bohr's description of trivial and profound truths in Welcome to the World of Chiasmus).

"Be a little careful of your Library.
Do you foresee what you will do with it?
Very little to be sure.
But the real question is,
What it will do with you."

Emerson was a prolific writer and an avid reader, and he saw a real relationship between authors, books, and readers. He once even wrote, "'Tis the good reader that makes the good book." But here he emphasizes the powerful impact a book can have on the reader. He ended this 1873 Journal entry with another chiastic thought: "You will come here & get books that will open your eyes, & your ears, & your curiosity, & turn you inside out or outside in." (italics are mine).

Ralph Waldo Emerson and Implied Chiasmus

"Implied chiasmus" occurs when the words of a popular saying are deliberately reversed. Some popular examples are Mae West's "A hard man is good to find," Kermit the Frog's "Time's fun when you're having flies." If you're not familiar with the term, you can find further information at implied chiasmus.

So far, I've found only two examples of implied chiasmus in Emerson's writings, and only the most literate readers will recognize this first one as an example. Let's see how you do:

"The French woman says,
'I am a woman and a Parisienne,
and nothing foreign to me
appears altogether human.'"

If you recognize the original saying that inspired this observation, congratulations, it means you're an exceptionally well-read person. In the quote, Emerson cleverly comments on the French tendency to look down their noses at everything that is not French by reversing the words of the Roman writer, Terence, who wrote, "I am a man, and nothing human is foreign to me."

"A man must thank his defects and
stand in some terror of his talents."

This is another not-so-obvious example of implied chiasmus, with Emerson reversing the natural tendency of people—to be thankful for their talents and to be in some terror of their defects.

This completes our look at the chiastic Ralph Waldo Emerson. In our next edition, we'll take a look at another chiastic master, the most celebrated writer of all time, William Shakespeare.