Transcendentalism In Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self Reliance

“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” -Ralph Waldo Emerson in Self Reliance. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a transcendentalist. Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that originated in the 19th century and was primarily influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Transcendentalists’ main beliefs are: self-reliance is essential to one’s life, nature is divine, every person should have an optimistic outlook, and humanity needs to adhere to their personal morals and beliefs. In today’s world we still see a multitude of the beliefs of transcendentalism.

Ralph Waldo Emerson is a transcendentalist in my eyes because of his consistent promotion of free thought, personal insight, and individuality. Transcendentalism is the combination of the beliefs of nonconformity, self-reliance, free thought, confidence, and importance of nature. When I looked further into its meaning I came to realize it encompasses the growth and renewal of the individual, revolt against conformity, and basically promotes all sorts of reformation. Transcendentalism is really just a collection of eclectic ideas about literature, philosophy, religion, social reform, and the generalizations on culture. It is the kind of concept that exists on a sliding scale because it has different meanings for each person who interprets it. I feel like Emerson really advocates many of these ideas and thoughts throughout all of his works, he speaks about individuality, promoting intuition as a sign of higher thinking. Emerson constantly reinforced that free thought was an advantage that not everyone was able to use for themselves, for example he says "A great soul will be strong to live, as well as strong to think." (1862). This is his way of expressing that there is power and privilege in those that can and will think for themselves, that they have the upper hand in comparison to those who just fall in line with what society wants. Overall he seems to be a transcendentalist author considering how the many elements of the concept are constantly reiterated throughout every

Emerson has issue with society. He believes that the conformity and “encroachment on peoples’ liberties [hindered the individual.] He says people should look for individual freedom, and in finding that freedom, people will achieve self-reliance” (Yanella 4, 13). More so Emerson does not trust the system that governs society. He sees society as a “joint stock company that is in conspiracy with every one of its members” (“Self-Reliance” 535). Society can be seen as a hindrance on individual thought because a lot of times people will do what society or authority tells them to do without thinking of themselves first.

Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, central figures of Transcendentalism, expressed their beliefs through works such as “American Scholar” and “Into the Woods” in the nineteenth century. They believed that one must be in simplicity, solitude, and away from technology to appreciate the beauty of nature, which is essential for a better spiritual understanding of oneself. Transcendentalism, which focuses on spiritual interactions with nature, is relevant in today’s hectic life with temptations of materialistic goods and burdens of technology. The retreat that Webb offers every year is a good example of how Transcendentalism shapes students to have spiritual richness and mental strength. On retreats, students go off campus with bare necessities for three days to camp sites in nature to reflect and appreciate the beauty of the outdoors. Viewed through the lens of Transcendentalism, retreats allow students to prepare for a new and busy school year to come by helping them to realize their own goals, to get rid of distractions of technology, to get inspired by nature for a better understanding of themselves, and to enjoy a moment of solitude to truly reflect on the deeper meanings of life.

     Emerson’s writing focused on nonconformity and individuality. In his essay "Self-Reliance," he wrote, "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind," and, "Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist."

Another key transcendentalist idea that Emerson and Thoreau had was self-reliance. They believed that one cannot rely on others to help them and aid them in their journey called life. Sometimes you just have to experience things for yourself. You can’t wait for others to lead you or show you the way, occasionally you just have take a leap by yourself. This quote from Emerson’s Self-Reliance explains his belief on the subject, “Great men have always done so and confided themselves childlike in the genius of their age”(Paragraph 2, Line 3). This quote explains how Emerson believed that great men have let go of society's opinion and just been themselves. In Emerson’s Self-Reliance, he spoke of how the average person is so caught up with trying to please society that they forget to be themselves. Society always has a standard for what normal or acceptable is; it’s ever changing throughout the course of history, but nonetheless, there has and will always be a standard. Society views anyone that acts or thinks outside of this standard to be less important or below them. This quote explains how important self-reliance is, “Freedom comes from strength and self-reliance”(Murkowski). Self-reliance can bring everyone so much happiness. You have to just stop worrying about anyone else and be yourself. Self-reliance is a very important transcendentalist idea that Emerson and

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Jon Krakauer, and Michael Donovan all share transcendental beliefs. One mutual theme displayed by the four authors is self-reliance. Self-reliance is a theme central to the heart of the transcendentalist movement. Whether it be Self-Reliance by Emerson, Civil Disobedience by Thoreau, Into the Wild by Krakauer, or “It’s All-On-Me” by Donovan the theme of self-reliance is abundant throughout the text and is evident in the foundation of their beliefs.

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” Ralph Waldo Emerson is known as one of the most famous transcendentalist authors throughout history. Throughout his life, Emerson has written many essays and lectures explaining his transcendentalist beliefs. Emerson, along with many other transcendentalists, believe that all men should be true to themselves and not rely on other people for help in every aspect of their life. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s transcendentalist beliefs are evident in his well-known essay, “Self-Reliance.”

Why follow societal views? Ralph Waldo Emerson's, “Self Reliance”, and Henry David Thoreau’s, “Where I Lived and What I Lived For”, are both texts that influence the idea of transcendentalism which influences the way people think about society's actions and how self-reliance. Emerson’s text goes in-depth about relying on oneself instead of the use of inventions that rid of bodily functions. While Thoreau’s text also goes in-depth about one's life and how time should be determined by the individual and not the clock of society. Being away and being different from society, individualism, are explained by Emerson and Thoreau through their use of description; however, Thoreau in addition to description uses compare and contrast and problem and solution all to show that individuality is a part of life that is missing from modern day society.

Transcendentalism During the mid to late eighteen hundreds,  a new type of philosophy and religion was being developed by a few great minds. This social movement was called transcendentalism.   Entailing a looser view on how one should worship, transcendentalism teaches that the absolute divinity of God pervades all.

Transcendentalism was a time influenced by romanticism and philosophy. This was a reaction to rationalism and created a more enjoyable reality. One leader of the philosophical movement was Ralph Waldo Emerson, who became well known for challenging traditional ideas. His beliefs included the idea that the present and future are more important than past decisions, and who we are as a person is most important. Emerson's beliefs during transcendentalism are relevant to current society in several ways. Emerson believed in the idea that the actions of a person were more powerful than the words that they spoke. He wrote, "Remember what you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say." This is similar to the modern ideal that actions speak

Emerson’s transcendental perspective on life created an optimistic view for others to be inspired by, allowing people to create their own art in every sense of the word. The ideas that everything is connected and people have control over their own lives are discussed in Emerson’s “Nature” and “Self-Reliance”. The topics explained by these works of Emerson’s can be reflected of those done by the band Queen. Queen brought originality to the world of rock and roll and had established their own identity, which can be seen in the songs they produced. Many of Queen’s music conveyed the hopefulness and realness of Emerson’s writing, such as “‘39”, “Breakthru”, “One Vision”, and “Under Pressure”, however the song “We are the Champions” shows explicitly

Emerson view of Transcendentalism and how he practiced it. Emerson had a very hands on view of Transcendentalism he thought that society should be involved in our actions. Society on the other hand has other idea shown in this quote here from Emerson’s “Self-reliance”, “The virtue of most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its adversion” (Emerson, p.g. 686 par 2). Emersion says when people conform they lose their time and their character that makes them who they are. He also says what would happen if people didn’t conform to society he said the people would be shunned like outcast. Emerson shows a way to conform to society and still be yourself in his example of helping others we are responsible for in a since like friends and family. Emerson says people must keep their obligations to those they are deemed responsible for, however these people do not have to agree with their statements or believes. Emerson shows his engagement in society in this quote here, “Emerson was influential in extending the interests of transcendentalists to include direct engagement with public affairs and politics, endorsing, for example, strong opposition to

There have been numerous religious rebellions throughout history, but none quite like that of Transcendentalism. This movement embodies the idea that spiritual growth can be achieved through personal journey instead of conflicting with organized religion. By the time of the movement’s onset, newly gained religious freedom in the United States allowed for new ideas and beliefs to prosper freely. At the heart of this movement was Transcendentalism philosophy famous ambassadors, Ralph Waldo Emerson and apprentice Henry David Thoreau. These men believed nature is what forces us not to depend on other ideas but to develop our own.

Emerson criticizes that men do not even try to build their own opinion because they blindly trust the thoughts of the majority or they conform to the will of the community because their opinion differs from the common beliefs. They do not have enough courage and self-confidence to express their opinion since they are afraid that other men could look down at them because they do not have the same opinion. This turns them into just one, tiny, unimportant part of billions of people, whose thoughts are basically equal, but exactly the aspect of being different from everybody else, being an individual, being special and having his own personality is what a human being is all about and is necessary for having success.