ACTION
“Inaction is cowardice, but there can be no scholar without the heroic mind.”
Emerson points out the scholar’s need for action, the necessity of physical labor. Labor is valuable in and of itself, the creative act of putting thought and principal into practical use. The mindset of scholarly men being immune to manual labor is laughable and disgusting, for “an active person has a richer existence than a scholar who merely undergoes a second-hand existence through the words and thoughts of others.”
The contrast between past action and new action is also mentioned, explaining that past deeds transform into thought, similar to the metamorphosis of larva into a butterfly. However, recent acts remain tied to current events and present feelings, which prevent the transformation. The importance of action is the development of the scholar’s character, and the creation of balance in one’s life – the rhythm of alternating “thought and action, labor and contemplation.”
“Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.”