Please help me understand this wuote from Ralph Waldo Emerson?

Question

"There are always two parties, the party of the Past and the party of the Future; the Establishment and the Movement"

Thanks!

Answer 1

In my opinion it means: There are always people who only stick to what is established in the past (traditionalists maybe), and people who tend to move forward, and look into the future.

I hope this is what he had intended.

Answer 2

He's trying to say that the people who always think about the past are always standing still (they establish things - like buildings, that don't move). People who always think about the future are always moving forward (they move, change, create).

I hope this helps.

Answer 3

That quote is normally used when referring to changes in an organization, like the implementation of a new computer system and changes in the organization's structure or methods. When that change is coming, some people (party of the past) will resist and will try to avoid it, while others (party of the future) will embrace it and keep things working for the better.

Answer 4

Hi,

   Actually, he's saying that there are always two groups:  Those who want change and those who want things to stay the same.  Emerson calls the party that wants things to stay the same, the party of the past.  He further characterizes them as the establishment.  In other words, those who are in power and set the norm and exercise control.  He is characterizing the party of the future as the Movement.  That is, some opposition group or force that is not firmly embedded in the culture but, according to him, is trying to change things for the better.  

   Most of us know that Emerson and many writers for that matter, tended--actually they still do--to portray things in black and white.  Those of us who are pragmatists know that there are people with all different shades of hopes, desire, and activities aimed at changing the culture to conform to their own ideas of improvement or perfection.

We have to be careful that, in cases of radical change, it's not just one brand of tyranny being substituted for another.

FE

Answer 5

Everywhere there are people who look to the past, and those who look to the future. Those in power, and those in the "Movement".

With "Movement" he probably meant the Liberal movement in general, or more specifically Transcendentalism :

"Transcendentalism was a group of new ideas in literature, religion, culture, and philosophy that emerged in New England in the early to middle 19th century."

"Transcendentalism began as a protest against the general state of culture and society at the time, and in particular, the state of intellectualism at Harvard and the doctrine of the Unitarian church taught at Harvard Divinity School. Among transcendentalists' core beliefs was an ideal spiritual state that 'transcends' the physical and empirical and is only realized through the individual's intuition, rather than through the doctrines of established religions."

"Prominent transcendentalists included Ralph Waldo Emerson"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcenden...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcenden...