What does "The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected a man's best hour, as much as they delighted the simplicity of his childhood" mean?

The statement means that nature (flowers, animals and mountains) is something that should be valued by people, in a similar way when they were younger. Only few people actually see the beauty of nature while the rest only sees its superficial beauty. With so many material things around us, it is very hard to enjoy the sunshine in the morning or how it sets in the afternoon. Such thing can only be appreciated by children.

Explanation:

The statement above is related to Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay about "Nature." It expresses the core of his thinking and his transcendentalist view.

"Nature" talks about how humans think of nature and use nature for basic necessities, delight, communication with other people and having an understanding of the world.