Importance Of Self Reliance By Ralph Waldo Emerson

Emerson’s Self Reliance essay is a motivational to say the least. Several quotes from the essay challenge our current society's moral compass, even though it was written 150 years ago. The essay stresses the necessity of relying on oneself for knowledge and guidance. Unlike other writings that are often compared to the Bible, Emerson’s essay conveys the same ideas as the Bible, without using scenes or characters to get his message across.

1. The main theme of the piece “Self-Reliance” is that one should never conform to the way that society views that they should because in doing that, a person loses their individuality. Emerson believed that a person should, “Speak [their] latent conviction, and it shall be the universal sense,” meaning that if a person chooses to march to the beat of their own drum, then nobody can tell them their opinion is wrong because at least they are taking a chance and speaking their mind. Emerson’s definition of self-reliance is similar to the common use because both definitions discuss how one should take care of personal needs and be independent. Emerson himself stated that, “the great man is he who

I believe that, essentially, life consists of a series of choices. A grouping of these choices in one direction or another makes us who we are, and ultimately we have control over our lives. What makes one person different from another is his own set of choices. When going through life’s motions, we develop certain worldviews and ideas and values to live by. We develop an opinion of what makes a person “great.” In the well-known essay “Self-Reliance”, Ralph Waldo Emerson provides a beautiful way of approaching these choices, and he reveals a very inspiring set of values centralized around going through life answering only to yourself. I love the way Emerson evaluates the society we live

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay titled “Self-Reliance” he speaks on the topic of the individual, creating the idea that an individual being independent leads to greatness. Emerson’s writing within this memoir is relatable to young individuals who are looking for themselves, an individual must avoid conformity and false consistency while following their own thoughts making themselves an individual. Within the essay, Emerson uses a range of rhetorical devices to prove that every individual can do great by being an individual and not like everyone else, something that young people everywhere should hear while growing up with the heinous act of peer pressure.

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance,” Emerson calls for each person in society to be wholly true to themselves. He claims that it is most rewarding to the individual and the society for people to believe in one’s own thoughts and not in the thoughts of others. Emerson believes that conformity will ultimately lead to an individual’s demise because by living for others, people are not being true to themselves. Therefore in order to have a well-formed society, citizens should focus inward and have confidence in their own ideas before beginning to look towards other individuals; moreover, Emerson calls individuals not only in “Self-Reliance,” but also in numerous essays to act independently from conformity and to live for themselves.

There is a large abundance of controversy between individuals over certain topics and what they truly mean. An example of one of these topics is self-reliance. Although there are multiple opinions on the meaning and use of self-reliance the true definition, as found in the dictionary is “a reliance on one’s own efforts and abilities” (Merriam-Webster). Many writers spoke in their writing about their past experiences with self-reliance and what they believe it to be. A few of these writers include Doctor Zhivago, Jon Krakauer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walden, and Peter Buffett. By reading these author’s writings you can clearly understand their views and ideas on self-reliance.

Emerson’s “Self- Reliance” was written in a time where America was breaking away from the European norms and European control. America was used to thinking and conforming to the European way, but when we broke away we had learn how to think and do for ourselves. Emerson wrote on this topic of conformity and learning to think for ourselves because, he soon began to see a problem when we conform to society.

Through excellent metaphors, Emerson stresses that you must first trust yourself to achieve greatness from your own genius, to realize your potential, and to be self-reliant. Your inner genius, when tapped into, allows you to build self-reliance. Some people might argue that you only need to depend on yourself. If you are totally self-reliant you’re going to have a narrow perspective because you can only pull from your own life experiences or from your own family’s or community’s involvement. However, I am arguing that Emerson uses strong metaphors to show that even with a belief in individualism and self-reliance, one must also trust other sources such as society and God.

We conform because we want to fit in and feel accepted. Unfortunately, by conforming, we allow others to shape our personalities, behavior and thoughts, taking away our ability to be ourselves. The principle of Emerson’s quote is true: joining a society does indeed take away our liberties and individualism. It is up to us to try to live up to Emerson’s statement of ideal behavior, ““It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of

After reading Emerson’s essay, I noticed a big difference between him and the rest of narratives we read. Emerson believed in being independent, and not being influenced by anything and anyone around you. He assumed that the mind’s primary theme is an unhappy conformism. In his essay “Self-Reliance”, he focused on his catch-phrase "Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string " (Emerson, 270).

Imagine a world where there is no society. Imagine if there was no technology and everybody just lived in isolation. In Emerson’s essay, “Self-Reliance,” he illustrates his ideas on the tenet by using metaphors. Nonconformity means being mentally and physically separated from society, a quality which sometimes overlaps with the ideas behind self-reliance. In “Where I Lived and What I Lived For,” Thoreau uses personal experiences, description, and problem-and-solution. Emerson and Thoreau begin by using different techniques, Thoreau using problem-and-solution and description, while Emerson uses cause-and-effect, yet both use cause-and-effect to develop the idea that one should be independent of society in the end.

Emerson believes that conformity turns men’s lives into a lie. Conformist men act other characters and do not represent their actual point of view. They are willing to be untrue to themselves just because they are influenced by the majority. Emerson says that it is effortless to be a conformist human and to live after the opinion of the majority and those people are no true men. Who wants to be “a man, must be a nonconformist (pg.56).”

It is simply not easy for a teenage kid to always stay true to himself/herself throughout their entire teenage life. A statistic found on lovetoknow.com shows that “70 percent of teens who smoke have friends who smoke or started smoking because of peer pressure” (Zeiger 1). Another fact from statisitcbrain.com shows that “90 Percent of 15-17 year old girls who want to change at least one aspect of their physical appearance” (Brain 1). Examples like these are the problems that 21st century teenage boys and girls deal with everyday. However, reading Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self Reliance, might give them useful advice on how to live a better, more happy life. The compilation of short essays that Emerson composed inspire the readers to be nonconformist, and to rely on oneself to do the right thing. These ideas are what the Transcendentalists believed in. The group thought that everyone should move away from what society thinks, to listen to oneself, and to live life the way one wants to. However, today’s society completely contradicts Emerson’s writing. Most citizens, especially teenagers listen to how they are expected live life by society, instead of being who they truly are. Emerson says staying true to yourself and not imitating others will make an individual truly happy, which would help teens make better and smarter decisions when bad influence and temptation come their way.

Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay entitled “Self-Reliance” is a short piece covering his view of society and moral standards. His erroneous view of the latter shapes the way he thinks and writes. Consequently, not all his statements can be taken as legitimate, but he does make a few points that are parallel to the Bible. Primarily, he agrees with a Biblical worldview on matters such as the fear of man and nonconformity, but deviates from the Bible on moral standards of right and wrong.

Emerson also believes that one can be great through being self reliant. He says,”To be great is to be misunderstood” (7). This tells one that if others seem to be judging or confused on what one is doing with his or her life, one should ignore the others, and continue to follow what she or he believes. Emerson explains that if one is misunderstood by others that she or he is on the path to success. For example, when Jesus’ followers were