Self-Reliance

In Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self-Reliance," the main idea is that the individual should exist apart from society. In other words, people should be themselves completely and not seek to conform to...

Let's take a closer look at the full quotation from Emerson: Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string Emerson explains fairly explicitly what he means by this comment. In writing...

The most important idea in "Self-Reliance" is that of individualism. Emerson emphasizes that it is one's primary duty to trust one's own instincts, express oneself, and give to the world the gifts...

Emerson believed that individuals should think for themselves, not simply conform to popular ideas because they are the most popular and not simply stick with one opinion so as to avoid appearing...

In this essay, Emerson encourages each person to live by their own principles. He exhorts the readers to rely on themselves for their ideas and values and goals, rather than listening to what other...

To understand this line from "Self-Reliance," we have to put it in context. Emerson is urging the reader to listen to his own intuitive insights, and not put them aside because he doubts his...

In his essay on “self-reliance,” Ralph Waldo Emerson emphasizes the importance of trusting one’s own conscience; only by doing so can one realistically expect to maintaining one’s personal...

Emerson essentially believes that traveling is overrated. He supports this perspective through an initial focus on "the idea" of places like Italy, England, and Egypt, and the fascination of...

As was mentioned in the previous post, society's main purpose is to suppress individuality, force people to conform to the status quo, and encourage citizens to behavior consistently. Emerson...

This passage from the essay Self-Reliance follows Ralph Waldo Emerson's remarks about people's reluctance to change their opinions that have already been approved by others. That is, people are...

"Planting corn" is a metaphor (a comparison that does not use the words "like" or "as") for making the most of one's own abilities so that one bears a good harvest (i.e., so that they do good in...

This quotation comes from the early part of Emerson's "Self Reliance," which focuses on the importance of individualism and the self. What Emerson is saying is that for every person, eventually...

Emerson is trying to point out the challenges with remaining as a non- conformist. At the time in which he is writing, America began to embrace a model of industrialization and the notion of...

The title of Emerson's essay "Self-Reliance" gives a clear notion of why the author regards imitation as suicide. One should rely on oneself, which entails being original. In the same paragraph...

This quote is from Emerson's "Self-Reliance," and it's about the importance of originality and trusting one's own instincts in the process of becoming educated. The person who truly wants to become...

I think this segment of Emerson's Self-Reliance focuses on the theme of confidence. If we cannot believe in ourselves, we have already defeated the purposes and aims we set out to achieve. In...

By the word, "palms," Emerson is referring to the palm leaf or laurel branch, which in ancient times was used by people to celebrate a victory or occasion for rejoicing. One example of this usage...

Emerson's view of the world minimized the divisions between the different aspects of nature, and so for him the distinction between humans and vegetables is less pronounced than most assume it to...

Emerson's essay is aimed at young men--and we must emphasize men--graduating from college or in other ways about to embark on a life of opportunity. In other words, he writes to persuade privileged...

In this passage, Emerson is using language with religious connotations to make the point that everyday people aren't meant to be followers or passive bystanders on the sidelines. Everyone should...

This passage relates to Emerson's central theme of nonconformity. He defines greatness as the ability to think apart from the crowd and to not give into certain ideas just because the majority...

In his essay "Self-Reliance," Ralph Waldo Emerson champions individualism, spontaneity, nature, and intuition. Emerson subscribes to the belief that individuals should trust themselves and not seek...

As a Transcendentalist, Ralph Waldo Emerson believed strongly in individualism; it is important, Emerson held, for each individual to follow whatever his conscience dictated at any particular time....

As a transcendentalist, Emerson belived that peopl must live their own lives and not worry themselves with that other people do of what other people think. In "Self-Reliance" he discusses this...

Both texts, Nature and "Self-Reliance," by Ralph Waldo Emerson, illuminate a few of the main tenets of Transcendentalism. First, the tenet of individualism is present in both texts. In Nature,...

Emerson strongly champions nonconformity in his essay "Self-Reliance." He believes that a true man must be a nonconformist, because otherwise, he will simply agree with what those around him say...

The individual's responsibility to society is to remain the individual. The individual must be a nonconformist and take care of himself. Although in society it is easy to conform, and in fact...

Emerson defines an individual as a person who has learned to "Trust [his or her] self." The real individual knows that "envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for...

In "Self-Reliance," as the title indicates, Emerson tries to persuade young people just graduating from college to follow their own hearts and souls in seeking their paths through life. He is...

When Ralph Waldo Emerson uses the phrase "that divine idea each of us represent," he means the uniqueness of each person as conceived by God. In his essay "Self-Reliance," Emerson urges all people...

Emerson is using a metaphor. He is figuratively speaking of all the bards and sages, that is, all the poets and philosophers, as if they are stars lighting up the entire sky like our Milky Way...

Emerson's essay "Nature" is an explanation of how humans and animals and plants are all part of the natural world, and within Nature is contained a beauty that also comes from people's response to...

In "Self-Reliance," Emerson regards the prayers of most people, which are prayers of petition for worldly goods or favors, to be "vicious." These prayers are wrong-headed, in his opinion, because...

In "Self-Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson, the author encourages people to be self-reliant in seeking their future, as the title suggests. Each person is distinct and individual and must follow his...

Emerson wrote that "[s]ociety everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members" and that a man is "clapped into jail by his consciousness." By this, he meant that the...

Emerson is not trying to advise everybody to be a nonconformist. He is addressing his remarks to intelligent individuals who are capable of understanding him. No doubt a lot of these individuals...

This quote is from a paragraph that really explains the meat of Emerson's essay and one of the most important tenets of transcendentalism. It is from the paragraph that starts "whoso would be a...

In this passage, Emerson calls readers toward nonconformity. He asks his audience to accept their individuality, their unique thoughts, and their distinctive value. Rather than comparing our ideas...

Society is the force one must push back against to achieve self-reliance and learn to understand one's individual destiny, according to Emerson. Society is the collective force of conformity that...

This is an opinion question, and could really be answered either way. The prior expert's answer focuses on how marketing drives much of what we desire—or think we desire—in life, and how this...

As a Transcendentalist, Ralph Waldo Emerson firmly believed in the merits of individualism and the power of intuition. In his essay, "Self-Reliance," he explains, To believe your own thought, to...

The word "genius" derives from the Latin gignere, and it originally referred to the nature of something or someone. This developed, however, to the point where "genius" came to mean innate talent...

Emerson believed in two kinds of "learning" --- tuition and intuition. Tuition is the kind of learning we generally associate with school. It comes from effort, from absorbing knowledge...

The implication within the quote is the idea of focusing on the individual's actions. The individual is in the position of power to be able to impact their world with a sense of action and...

Tone is the attitude or mood a writer conveys. In "Self-Reliance," Emerson conveys a tone of complete confidence and unwavering conviction in what he has to say. He is serious and never hesitant—he...

In "Self-Reliance," Emerson states that No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. By this, Emerson means that a person should look inward to his or her own soul to find the correct path...