The Powerful Words within Emerson's, "Self Reliance"

An Excerpt from "Self Reliance"

"I read the other day some verses written by an eminent painter which were original and not conventional. The soul always hears an admonition in such lines, let the subject be what it may. The sentiment they instil is of more value than any thought they may contain. To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, ? that is genius. Speak your latent conviction, and it shall be the universal sense; for the inmost in due time becomes the outmost,?? and our first thought is rendered back to us by the trumpets of the Last Judgment. Familiar as the voice of the mind is to each, the highest merit we ascribe to Moses, Plato, and Milton is, that they set at naught books and traditions, and spoke not what men but what they thought. A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. Great works of art have no more affecting lesson for us than this. They teach us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good-humored inflexibility then most when the whole cry of voices is on the other side. Else, to-morrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another.

There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried. Not for nothing one face, one character, one fact, makes much impression on him, and another none. This sculpture in the memory is not without preestablished harmony. The eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify of that particular ray. We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents. It may be safely trusted as proportionate and of good issues, so it be faithfully imparted, but God will not have his work made manifest by cowards. A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise, shall give him no peace. It is a deliverance which does not deliver. In the attempt his genius deserts him; no muse befriends; no invention, no hope. "

Emerson, Ralph. “Self Reliance” 8 Aug. 2003. 14 May 2008 < http://www.emersoncentral.com/selfreliance.htm>

Self-Reflection

The piece of work, “Self Reliance,” written by Ralph Waldo Emerson is a truly captivating piece of work as it establishes a connection to the inner soul of a human- being. Additionally, I also found the language within the story to be truly sophisticated in order to connote an overall sensation of being one with the nature and soul. Similarly I found that the main point that Emerson tried to convey was the humans’ ability to connect with nature and truly appreciate the many beautiful aspects of earth. Similarly this piece connects to North America as many find believed in transcendentalism within the early eighteen-hundreds. After reading this story I felt inspired to try and connect with the true essence of nature. Similarly I was amazed at the language in which was used within the piece of work. Transcendentalism is similar to the every day life within the new century as many believe that they can become one with the nature, and therefore they reside within the forests.



Dear Diary,
March 10, 1833

As I have been walking within the new settlements, I have witness the uproar of transcendentalism within schools and churches and how there is a higher meaning within life. Many are currently talking about a piece of work called, “Self Reliance”. I have taken the time to read this piece of work by Ralph Waldo Emerson and I have been captivated by the language in which he has used. I also believe that there is a higher order within human beings which must only be tapped into. I do believe that an individual is one with his own soul as well as nature. There is always a greater power is above us and therefore also protects. One must always keep in touch with his or her inner self in order to gain a new understanding of the world.

For the past days I have been reading many of Emerson’s works and I have become more prone to my inner self. I have learned to become one with the nature in order to understand the true meaning that is held behind it. As an adult it is easier to understand the true intentions that god held for me, and that was to understand truly what is meant by a full life. One must connect with the many aspects of mother nature and tap into an unconscious mind in order to leave behind any regrets or the corruption brought upon by human kind.

A Visual Representationtion