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Ralph Waldo Emerson's Argumentative Essay

Decent Essays

Jacob Bronowski once said, “The wish to hurt, the momentary intoxication with pain, is the loophole through, which the pervert climbs into the minds of ordinary men” (qtd. in “Bronowski.”). He elaborates that wanting someone to feel agony is immoral. Society frowns upon obliterating another person’s reputation for self-benefit. Most people characterize hurt as physical soreness, but to completely understand how the word has evolved it helps to look at the etymology and the diverse definitions that exist in economics, sports, and psychology.
Throughout the centuries, transformations have occurred making Diving deeper into the etymology of a word makes it easier to see the transformations that occurred throughout the centuries. Hurt was derived from the Old French word hurte, meaning to knock or strike two things together that causes damage (Harper). Ralph Waldo Emerson, a prominent author in the 19th century wrote in his essay, Circles, “You admire this tower of granite, weathering the hurts of so many ages. Yet a little waving hand built this huge wall, and that which builds is better than that which is built” (Emerson). He elaborates on how most people appreciate an ancient, weathered construction, but don’t give enough credit to the builder who worked hard to fabricate a masterpiece. Although this particular …show more content…

in “Tynan”). Quoted by Kenneth Tynan in 1897, this quote means the worst feeling in the world is when a best friend is secretly working with your enemy to damage you without knowing it. When this happens most victims have trouble believing people again. Hurt can be categorized into different definitions depending on the context used. Although, the original meaning of knocking objects together is rarely used today, the evolution of the word has helped describe meanings for economics, sports, and

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