We boil at different degrees.
Emerson is saying that some people resort to anger faster than others. I think this because boiling is usually associated with anger or frustration. The different degrees could represent the amount of time it takes someone to show that they are upset, or it could relate to the things that may push them over the edge. I know from being with my family that everyone has a different way of seeing things. One ill-humored comment that one person does not take seriously, could be taken into deep consideration by another. Being aware of someone’s temper is definitely a great way of avoiding conflicts because upsetting someone is not worth it.
What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not been discovered.
Emerson uses the weed to symbolize an unimportant life. Emerson is stating that all life has value even though that life may be irrelevant or negligible. We should take it upon ourselves to spend time understanding virtues of those who may seem smaller than us, because in reality, they have much more value than we could ever imagine. The weed, relates to a human being, possibly someone who is less fortunate. Why do we dismiss people as invaluable, when we really have no idea what they are capable of? We should learn about others, and we might discover a virtue within ourselves.
All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
Emerson, in his essays, often concluded that in order to obtain knowledge or understanding, one should use experience. In Emerson’s essay Experience, he says, “Intellectual tasting of life will not supersede muscular activity.” In other words, physically experiencing something is greater than thinking about it. So if a man does more experiments in his lifetime, he is more likely to live a happy life full of understanding. I agree with Emerson’s statement because I think people learn best through living, or to name it, trial-and-error. I know from my personal experiences as a cashier that a supervisor can tell me how to do something, but I do not completely understand how to do it until I try it for the first time, learning from my mistakes as I go along. When I finally know how to do something correctly after experimenting, I feel a great sense of satisfaction, probably more so than I would if I had gotten the task done the first time. Life should not always be about achieving perfection right away; it takes time and practice to learn something, so experimenting is the best way to even come close to perfection.
