return to nature, n.All

The Return to nature (n.) now ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠means the opposite of Rousseau's: away from idyl and opera.

Return to nature (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠impossible, for there has never been a natural humanity: man reaches nature only after a long struggle, an ascent; Napoleon was such a return.

The Return to nature (n.) would ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠mean Reason submerging its developed wealth in the natural heart and relapsing into the wilderness of the nearly animal consciousness — which is also called innocence.

The Return to nature (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not going back but coming towards — towards a high, free, even terrible naturalness that can play with great tasks.

The Return to nature (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠my adversaries' inference, not mine: let those who can, go back to the woods; men like me, whose passions have destroyed their simplicity and who cannot live on acorns, will obey the laws — while despising a constitution that needs so many heroes to stand.