"We are never tired, so long as we can see far enough"

"To the body and mind which have been cramped by noxious work or company, nature is medicinal and restores their tone.  The tradesman, the attorney comes out of the din and craft of the street, and sees the sky and the woods, and is a man again...we are never tired, so long as we can see far enough"(11). 

This particular quote drew me back to the article we read about paying attention.   That article had focused upon how, in modern American society, we rarely give our full attention to anything because we are so stressed by our busy lives that when we have time to relax, we prefer to use it by doing "mind-numbing" activities such as watching television.  The author of this article had suggested that we could try and pay more attention in our daily lives, and that joining groups could be a way to spend free time more attentively.  I think that Emerson offers a slightly different view on the same subject.   He suggests that man is dulled and worn down by the busy, constantly-working lifestyle and that going into Nature can be a way to reawaken the senses and begin to pay attention again.
    In this respect, Emerson also states that, "Nature is thoroughly mediate.  It is made to serve.  It receives the dominion of man as meekly as the ass on which the Savior rode...Man is never weary of working it up...More and more, with every though does his kingdom stretch over things, until the world becomes, at last, only a realized will,-the double of man"(20).
    In this way, Nature can be used as a way to awaken from the mind-numbing activities of life, and also, while regenerating, as an opportunity to improve mankind.   He sees Nature as everything that is not a part of self, including intellect and progressing to a higher good.  Therefore by going out into nature, man can not only regain a sense of humanness, but also can discover and learn and improve the world into a better picture of humanity.   This can be seen as well in his view of trains as a harnessing of nature to better mankind.  In relation to our class, we can view trains as a combination of not only man's intellect harnessing nature, but a harnessing of nature to change and expand upon democracy as we know it today.