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Wednesday, April 1, 2009 - Elephant Butte Lake State Park, Elephant Butte NM

A Walk in the Woods, Percha Dam State Park, Arrey NM, March 29, 2009
A Walk in the Woods, Percha Dam State Park, Arrey NM, March 29, 2009

Night camp

Site 31, South Monticello Point - Elephant Butte Lake State Park, Elephant Butte NM

Proficiency in Knowledge of the World

There are all degrees of proficiency in knowledge of the world. It is sufficient, to our present purpose, to indicate three. One class lives to the utility of the symbol; esteeming health and wealth a final good. Another class live above this mark to the beauty of the symbol; as the poet, and artist, and the naturalist, and man of science. A third class live above the beauty of the symbol to the beauty of the thing signified; these are the wise men. The first class have common sense; the second, taste; and the third, spiritual perception. Once in a long time, a man traverses the whole scale, and sees and enjoys the symbol solidly; then also has a clear eye for its beauty, and lastly, while he pitches his tent on this sacred volcanic isle of nature, does not offer to build houses and barns thereon, reverencing the splendor of the God which he sees bursting through each chink and cranny.

Essay VII, Prudence Ralph Waldo Emerson

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