"Don't trust with edge tools. Don't trust man, great God, with more power
than he has, until he has learned to use
that little better. What a hell should
we make of the world if we could do what we would! Put a button on the foil till the young
fencers have learned not to put each other's eyes out.
-
Emerson
-
Journals 1832
This aphorism has an extreme significance to
today's society. It explains how people
should not be given too much power, whereas, it can be used incorrectly. Too much power in the wrong hands can reflect
evil, and one who find this power can show that. If we were able to do whatever we wanted to,
the world would be abolished without question.
Man should be trained to use his power wisely before unleashing it's
full capabilities. Once we can use our
powers the right ways we can respect the power and not use it for our own
benefit at other's expense.
I have personally known people to have some
power in which they use incorrectly in everyday life. These people become weights to society. They affect the world everyday, many of the world's
and the Unites States' problems have arised because of these people. Man will always have greed, it is in human
nature...man will always be selfish.
These traits can never be extinguished, but at least they can be limited
to only certain uses, and maybe man can be accustomed to use these traits the
correct way. All over the world this
aphorism represents society, and always will.
Even in our school I believe this is a valid point by Emerson. One should never have power anywhere close to
God but God himself. If they did...who
knows how society would be, or if it would be.
This power does not only pertain to just mental
power and ways of doing things, but also some specific problems in today's
society. One of which would be the use
of weapons. Kids and also adults get a
hold of guns and weapons with not problem, and don't exactly use them for what
they are advisable to be used for. Many
die every day because of the unauthorized use of weapons. Many kids join gangs, buy these weapons and
end up killing themselves. It reminds me
of the saying: "Guns don't kill
people, people kill people." There
is a lot of merit in this quote and has quite a bit to do with this
aphorism. There is no way you can
completely destroy the bad habits of society, and this particular custom will
always be. This is a sad thing, it will
only get worse. But, at least we can try
to help with this problem and try to guide this power to the right track. The United States is a world power and should
be a good example to the rest of the world, we have to be the big brother, and
to do so we must correct some of our ways of doing things.
What this aphorism infers about the human race
is what I felt was most important to today's society, that is why I chose
it. I feel this is one of his best
aphorisms with some of the most meaning.
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