The preamble of thought the transition through which it passes from the unconscious to the conscious is action. Only so much do I know, as I have lived.

Answer: This is an excerpt from “The American Scholar,” a famous essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great American thinker. In these sentences, the author emphasizes the importance of action for the American scholar.

This excerpt gives us the essence of Emerson’s philosophy of action which runs counter to the usual notion. He thinks that action is of the greatest importance for the scholar.

The popular notion about the scholar is that he should be a recluse, a valetudinarian; he is unfit for any handiwork or public labor. But this notion about a scholar is unjust. Action is essential for a scholar, though it is of secondary importance to him. Without action, a scholar should not be considered a man. There can be no scholar without the heroic mind that is, without the indomitable spirit for action. Action provides the transition from the unconscious to the conscious. The world around is the shadow of our soul.’ It is another me. The scholar becomes actively involved in the world. He knows as much of himself as he knows of the outside world. The intellect molds her splendid products out of the raw material of action. Without action, thought can never ripen into truth. Without action, we cannot see the beauty of the world that hangs around us. Inaction is cowardice. The preamble of thought is action. We only know as much as we have lived in action. Emerson, as a great thinker, discovers this similarity between the two great ideas of the old world and the modern world. It echoes his transcendental philosophy of life- a philosophy of contemplation, complemented by action.