Emerson, the Ocean, and the Shore

Judith Trepp, untitled, 2009, ink on handmade Indian paper,  18.5 x 29"

 Writing in his journal, July 1841, Emerson said:

It is the same ocean everywhere, but it has no character until seen with the shore or the ship. Who would value any number of miles of Atlantic brine bounded by lines of latitude and longitude? Confine it by granite rocks, let it wash ashore where wise men dwell, and it is filled with expression; and the point of greatest interest is where the land and water meet.