Experience

"Nature and books belong to the eyes that see them. It depends on the mood of the man, whether he shall see the sunset or the fine poem."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson, Experience (1844)

Experience (1844), by Ralph Waldo Emerson, was first published in Essays: Second Series. It is one of many of the author's commentaries on the importance of the individual. In this essay, Emerson contends that the life experience of each individual depends on their focus-that different people will experience the same physical reality differently depending on their interests and priorities.