Make a collection of the epigrammatic sayings in this essay that you think are worth remembering.
Compensation
What is the theme of this essay?
Illustrate the meaning of the law of compensation by referring to its working in nature, in human life, in government.
What did the Greeks mean by their goddess Nemesis?
Show the folly of trying to escape this law, by pointing out how it invariably works in the results of deeds of crime, of acts of honest labor, of deeds of love.
Explain the following statements and give illustrations:
"But for every benefit which you receive, a tax is levied" (p. 124). "The history of persecution is a history of endeavours to cheat nature" (p. 129).
What is Emerson's answer to the thoughtless who say: "What boots it to do well?... if I gain any good I must pay for it; if I lose any good I gain some other"? (p. 130)
Explain "Nothing can work me damage except myself" (p. 132).