The so-called "practical men" scoff at speculative men, as if, because they speculate or see, they ought to do nothing... As much as this is true of the studious classes , it is not right and wise. The action is up to the subordinate scholar, but it is essential. Without it he is not yet a man. Without it, thought can never mature into truth. While the world is before our eyes like a cloud of beauty, we cannot even see its beauty. Inaction is cowardice, but there can be no scholar without a heroic mind.” (Emerson's Prose and Poetry,