XI 

 RUMINATIONS 



I. MAN A PART OP NATURE 



THIS bit of nature which I call myself, and which 

 I habitually think of as entirely apart from the 

 nature by which I am surrounded, going its own 

 way, crossing or defeating or using the forces of 

 the nature external to it, is yet as strictly a part of 

 the total energy we call nature as is each wave in 

 the ocean, no matter how high it raises its crest, a 

 part of the ocean. Our wills, our activities, go but 

 a little way in separating us from the totality of 

 things. Outside of the very limited sphere of what 

 we call our spontaneous activities, we too are things 

 and are shaped and ruled by forces that we know 

 not of. 



It is only in action, or in the act of living, that 

 we view ourselves as distinct from nature. When 

 we think, we see that we are a part of the world in 

 which we live, as much so as the trees and the other 

 animals are a part. Intellect unites what life sepa- 

 rates. Our whole civilization is the separating of 

 one thing from another and classifying and organiz- 

 ing them. We work ourselves away from rude 

 Nature while we are absolutely dependent upon 



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