Emmerson essays on manners, self-reliance, compensation, nature, friendship Quotes

“Everybody we know surrounds himself with a fine house, fine books, conservatory, gardens, equipage, and all manner of toys, as screens to interpose between himself and his guest. Does it not seem as if man was of a very sly, elusive nature, and dreaded nothing so much as a full rencontre front to front with his fellow?”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays on Manners, Self-Reliance, Compensation, Nature, Friendship