"The language of excitement is at best picturesque merely. You must be calm before you can utter oracles"

Henry David Thoreau’s reflection on language and excitement reveals a nuanced understanding of communication and wisdom. Excitement often finds its voice in colorful, vivid, and emotionally charged language, striking the senses with energy and imagery. Such language can be eye-catching, engaging, even captivating to listeners or readers. Thoreau acknowledges that excitement possesses an aesthetic quality, it is “picturesque.” However, he suggests that while excitement can paint striking pictures with words, it lacks a certain depth or clarity required for profound insight.

Thoreau draws a distinction between picturesque language and the utterances of oracles, statements of genuine wisdom or profound truth. Oracles, in his view, require a stillness and composure that excitement cannot provide. Excitement tends to cloud the mind, leading to language laced with enthusiasm but often devoid of the measured understanding necessary for meaningful guidance. When passions run high, expression may gain in color and flourish, but loses the contemplative clarity that lends authority to an oracle’s pronouncement.

Calmness, as Thoreau describes, provides the space for thoughtful consideration. Only in a tranquil state can one access deeper insights, observe reality with precision, and then articulate truths that resonate beyond mere surface impressions. The oracular voice emerges from contemplation, from quietude that allows for discernment and the weighing of words. Such utterances possess a gravity and substance that excitable language lacks. It is through calm that the mind achieves its clearest focus, unmarred by the turbulence of intense emotion, and is thus able to convey the wisdom that truly guides and inspires others.

Thoreau’s insight invites a reevaluation of the value we place on passionate expression. While excitement is attractive and evocative, it is serenity and thoughtful calm that open the way to the most meaningful and oracular revelations.