Critical Thinking and Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Example

Critical Thinking and Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Example Critical Thinking and Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Critical Thinking and Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Essay Topic: Critical Thinking Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. Ralph Waldo Emerson. Some think the quote is saying that you need to appreciate beauty where ever you are. That there is beauty in everything,, if you just stop and look. When first reading the quote I thought the same thing. It was my initial judgment. It was a non emotional response. However, after reading it several times and using critical thinking, I came to the conclusion it was about finding beauty within yourself. I think the author was saying you cannot find beauty if you do not have it inside yourself. True beauty to me is defined as courage, compassion, faith, character and strength. Those are people’s inner treasures. When reading some of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Biography understand more about where I think the quote was coming from. A lot of his life he faced hardship, such as his father dying when he was 8 and leaving his family to face finical hard times. Still he finished college and went to work as a Unitarian Minister. The love of his life died only a year and half of marriage which caused him to leave his ministry. He scraped enough money together to do a 10 month tour of Europe. He eventually remarried and had 4 children. I think with just those facts on his life show us at one point he did travel the world to try and find the beauty or meaning in life. I also think he realized it was something he had in himself all along. The courage to go to school when your family barely had enough to eat, the compassion and faith to go into the ministry, and the character and strength to love again after you wife has been taken after such little time with her. I think humanities are more than learning to be human or learning how to use critical thinking. I think its learning about yourself. Learning about the inner beauties we all have and learning ways to display them. Whether it is through writing, music, or art. In today’s society where people are only concerned with making it to the top, I think we lose a little of our beauty or self. And like Ralph Waldo Emerson said â€Å"we must carry it with us or we find it not†.