list 10 importance of self reliance essay

Emerson's Self-Reliance: Unleash Your Inner Strength & Embrace Independence

• Essays: First Series ›
• Self-Reliance – Summary & Full ›

“Self-Reliance” Key Points:

• Urges his readers to follow their individual will instead of conforming to social expectations.
• Emphasizes following one’s own voice rather than an intermediary's, such as the church.
• He encourages his readers to be honest in their relationships with others.
• Posts the effects of self-reliance: altering religious practices, encouraging Americans to stay home and develop their own culture, and focusing on individual rather than societal progress.
• Merriam-Webster defines self-reliance as "reliance on one's own efforts and abilities." In broader contexts, self-reliance can be viewed as an individual's confidence in their capacity to manage their own life, make their own decisions, and provide for themselves without excessively depending on others. This concept is often celebrated in various cultures and philosophies for fostering independence, resilience, and personal growth.

What does Emerson say about self-reliance?

In Emerson's essay “ Self-Reliance ,” he boldly states society (especially today’s politically correct environment) hurts a person’s growth.

Emerson wrote that self-sufficiency gives a person in society the freedom they need to discover their true self and attain their true independence.

Believing that individualism, personal responsibility , and nonconformity were essential to a thriving society. But to get there, Emerson knew that each individual had to work on themselves to achieve this level of individualism. 

Today, we see society's breakdowns daily and wonder how we arrived at this state of society. One can see how the basic concepts of self-trust, self-awareness, and self-acceptance have significantly been ignored.

Who published self-reliance?

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote the essay, published in 1841 as part of his first volume of collected essays titled "Essays: First Series."

It would go on to be known as Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self Reliance and one of the most well-known pieces of American literature.

The collection was published by James Munroe and Company.

What are the examples of self-reliance?

Examples of self-reliance can be as simple as tying your shoes and as complicated as following your inner voice and not conforming to paths set by society or religion.

Self-reliance can also be seen as getting things done without relying on others, being able to “pull your weight” by paying your bills, and caring for yourself and your family correctly.

Self-reliance involves relying on one's abilities, judgment, and resources to navigate life. Here are more examples of self-reliance seen today:

Entrepreneurship: Starting and running your own business, relying on your skills and determination to succeed.

Financial Independence: Managing your finances responsibly, saving money, and making sound investment decisions to secure your financial future.

Learning and Education: Taking the initiative to educate oneself, whether through formal education, self-directed learning, or acquiring new skills.

Problem-Solving: Tackling challenges independently, finding solutions to problems, and adapting to changing circumstances.

Personal Development: Taking responsibility for personal growth, setting goals, and working towards self-improvement.

Homesteading: Growing your food, raising livestock, or becoming self-sufficient in various aspects of daily life.

DIY Projects: Undertaking do-it-yourself projects, from home repairs to crafting, without relying on external help.

Living Off the Grid: Living independently from public utilities, generating your energy, and sourcing your water.

Decision-Making: Trusting your instincts and making decisions based on your values and beliefs rather than relying solely on external advice.

Crisis Management: Handling emergencies and crises with resilience and resourcefulness without depending on external assistance.

These examples illustrate different facets of self-reliance, emphasizing independence, resourcefulness, and the ability to navigate life autonomously.

What is the purpose of self reliance by Emerson?

In his essay, " Self Reliance, " Emerson's sole purpose is the want for people to avoid conformity. Emerson believed that in order for a man to truly be a man, he was to follow his own conscience and "do his own thing."

Essentially, do what you believe is right instead of blindly following society.

Why is it important to be self reliant?

While getting help from others, including friends and family, can be an essential part of your life and fulfilling. However, help may not always be available, or the assistance you receive may not be what you had hoped for.

It is for this reason that Emerson pushed for self-reliance. If a person were independent, could solve their problems, and fulfill their needs and desires, they would be a more vital member of society.

This can lead to growth in the following areas:

Empowerment: Self-reliance empowers individuals to take control of their lives. It fosters a sense of autonomy and the ability to make decisions independently.

Resilience: Developing self-reliance builds resilience, enabling individuals to bounce back from setbacks and face challenges with greater adaptability.

Personal Growth: Relying on oneself encourages continuous learning and personal growth. It motivates individuals to acquire new skills and knowledge.

Freedom: Self-reliance provides a sense of freedom from external dependencies. It reduces reliance on others for basic needs, decisions, or validation.

Confidence: Achieving goals through one's own efforts boosts confidence and self-esteem. It instills a belief in one's capabilities and strengthens a positive self-image.

Resourcefulness: Being self-reliant encourages resourcefulness. Individuals learn to solve problems creatively, adapt to changing circumstances, and make the most of available resources.

Adaptability: Self-reliant individuals are often more adaptable to change. They can navigate uncertainties with a proactive and positive mindset.

Reduced Stress: Dependence on others can lead to stress and anxiety, especially when waiting for external support. Self-reliance reduces reliance on external factors for emotional well-being.

Personal Responsibility: It promotes a sense of responsibility for one's own life and decisions. Self-reliant individuals are more likely to take ownership of their actions and outcomes.

Goal Achievement: Being self-reliant facilitates the pursuit and achievement of personal and professional goals. It allows individuals to overcome obstacles and stay focused on their objectives.

Overall, self-reliance contributes to personal empowerment, mental resilience, and the ability to lead a fulfilling and purposeful life. While collaboration and support from others are valuable, cultivating a strong sense of self-reliance enhances one's capacity to navigate life's challenges independently.

What did Emerson mean, "Envy is ignorance, imitation is suicide"?

According to Emerson, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to you independently, but every person is given a plot of ground to till. 

In other words, Emerson believed that a person's main focus in life is to work on oneself, increasing their maturity and intellect, and overcoming insecurities, which will allow a person to be self-reliant to the point where they no longer envy others but measure themselves against how they were the day before.

When we do become self-reliant, we focus on creating rather than imitating. Being someone we are not is just as damaging to the soul as suicide.

Envy is ignorance: Emerson suggests that feeling envious of others is a form of ignorance. Envy often arises from a lack of understanding or appreciation of one's unique qualities and potential. Instead of being envious, individuals should focus on discovering and developing their talents and strengths.

Imitation is suicide: Emerson extends the idea by stating that imitation, or blindly copying others, is a form of self-destruction. He argues that true individuality and personal growth come from expressing one's unique voice and ideas. In this context, imitation is seen as surrendering one's identity and creativity, leading to a kind of "spiritual death."

What are the transcendental elements in Emerson’s self-reliance?

The five predominant elements of Transcendentalism are nonconformity, self-reliance, free thought, confidence, and the importance of nature.

The Transcendentalism movement emerged in New England between 1820 and 1836. It is essential to differentiate this movement from Transcendental Meditation, a distinct practice.

According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Transcendentalism is characterized as "an American literary, political, and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century, centered around Ralph Waldo Emerson." A central tenet of this movement is the belief that individual purity can be 'corrupted' by society.

Are Emerson's writings referenced in pop culture?

Emerson has made it into popular culture. One such example is in the film Next Stop Wonderland released in 1998. The reference is a quote from Emerson's essay on Self Reliance, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."

This becomes a running theme in the film as a single woman (Hope Davis ), who is quite familiar with Emerson's writings and showcases several men taking her on dates, attempting to impress her by quoting the famous line, only to botch the line and also giving attribution to the wrong person. One gentleman says confidently it was W.C. Fields, while another matches the quote with Cicero. One goes as far as stating it was Karl Marx!

Why does Emerson say about self confidence?

Content is coming very soon.

Self-Reliance: The Complete Essay

Ne te quaesiveris extra."

Man is his own star; and the soul that can Render an honest and a perfect man, Commands all light, all influence, all fate ; Nothing to him falls early or too late. Our acts our angels are, or good or ill, Our fatal shadows that walk by us still." Epilogue to Beaumont and Fletcher's Honest Man's Fortune Cast the bantling on the rocks, Suckle him with the she-wolf's teat; Wintered with the hawk and fox, Power and speed be hands and feet.

Ralph Waldo Emerson left the ministry to pursue a career in writing and public speaking. Emerson became one of America's best known and best-loved 19th-century figures. More About Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson Self Reliance Summary

The essay “Self-Reliance,” written by Ralph Waldo Emerson, is, by far, his most famous piece of work. Emerson, a Transcendentalist, believed focusing on the purity and goodness of individualism and community with nature was vital for a strong society. Transcendentalists despise the corruption and conformity of human society and institutions. Published in 1841, the Self Reliance essay is a deep-dive into self-sufficiency as a virtue.

In the essay "Self-Reliance," Ralph Waldo Emerson advocates for individuals to trust in their own instincts and ideas rather than blindly following the opinions of society and its institutions. He argues that society encourages conformity, stifles individuality, and encourages readers to live authentically and self-sufficient lives.

Emerson also stresses the importance of being self-reliant, relying on one's own abilities and judgment rather than external validation or approval from others. He argues that people must be honest with themselves and seek to understand their own thoughts and feelings rather than blindly following the expectations of others. Through this essay, Emerson emphasizes the value of independence, self-discovery, and personal growth.

What is the Meaning of 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 instill is of more value than any thought they may contain. To believe your own thought, to think 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 that flashes across his mind from within, more than the luster 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 lessons for us than this. They teach us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good-humored inflexibility than most when the whole cry of voices is on the other side. Else, tomorrow 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 that does not deliver. In the attempt his genius deserts him; no muse befriends; no invention, no hope.

Trust Thyself: Every Heart Vibrates To That Iron String.

Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, and the connection of events. Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not minors and invalids in a protected corner, not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but guides, redeemers, and benefactors, obeying the Almighty effort, and advancing on Chaos and the Dark.

What pretty oracles nature yields to us in this text, in the face and behaviour of children, babes, and even brutes! That divided and rebel mind, that distrust of a sentiment because our arithmetic has computed the strength and means opposed to our purpose, these have not. Their mind being whole, their eye is as yet unconquered, and when we look in their faces, we are disconcerted. Infancy conforms to nobody: all conform to it, so that one babe commonly makes four or five out of the adults who prattle and play to it. So God has armed youth and puberty and manhood no less with its own piquancy and charm, and made it enviable and gracious and its claims not to be put by, if it will stand by itself. Do not think the youth has no force, because he cannot speak to you and me. Hark! in the next room his voice is sufficiently clear and emphatic. It seems he knows how to speak to his contemporaries. Bashful or bold, then, he will know how to make us seniors very unnecessary.

The nonchalance of boys who are sure of a dinner, and would disdain as much as a lord to do or say aught to conciliate one, is the healthy attitude of human nature. A boy is in the parlour what the pit is in the playhouse; independent, irresponsible, looking out from his corner on such people and facts as pass by, he tries and sentences them on their merits, in the swift, summary way of boys, as good, bad, interesting, silly, eloquent, troublesome. He cumbers himself never about consequences, about interests: he gives an independent, genuine verdict. You must court him: he does not court you. But the man is, as it were, clapped into jail by his consciousness. As soon as he has once acted or spoken with eclat, he is a committed person, watched by the sympathy or the hatred of hundreds, whose affections must now enter into his account. There is no Lethe for this. Ah, that he could pass again into his neutrality! Who can thus avoid all pledges, and having observed, observe again from the same unaffected, unbiased, unbribable, unaffrighted innocence, must always be formidable. He would utter opinions on all passing affairs, which being seen to be not private, but necessary, would sink like darts into the ear of men, and put them in fear.

These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs.

Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world. I remember an answer which when quite young I was prompted to make to a valued adviser, who was wont to importune me with the dear old doctrines of the church. On my saying, What have I to do with the sacredness of traditions, if I live wholly from within? my friend suggested, — "But these impulses may be from below, not from above." I replied, "They do not seem to me to be such; but if I am the Devil's child, I will live then from the Devil." No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it. A man is to carry himself in the presence of all opposition, as if every thing were titular and ephemeral but he. I am ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names, to large societies and dead institutions. Every decent and well-spoken individual affects and sways me more than is right. I ought to go upright and vital, and speak the rude truth in all ways. If malice and vanity wear the coat of philanthropy, shall that pass? If an angry bigot assumes this bountiful cause of Abolition, and comes to me with his last news from Barbadoes, why should I not say to him, 'Go love thy infant; love thy wood-chopper: be good-natured and modest: have that grace; and never varnish your hard, uncharitable ambition with this incredible tenderness for black folk a thousand miles off. Thy love afar is spite at home.' Rough and graceless would be such greeting, but truth is handsomer than the affectation of love. Your goodness must have some edge to it, — else it is none. The doctrine of hatred must be preached as the counteraction of the doctrine of love when that pules and whines. I shun father and mother and wife and brother, when my genius calls me. The lintels of the door-post I would write on, Whim . It is somewhat better than whim at last I hope, but we cannot spend the day in explanation. Expect me not to show cause why I seek or why I exclude company. Then, again, do not tell me, as a good man did to-day, of my obligation to put all poor men in good situations. Are they my poor? I tell thee, thou foolish philanthropist, that I grudge the dollar, the dime, the cent, I give to such men as do not belong to me and to whom I do not belong. There is a class of persons to whom by all spiritual affinity I am bought and sold; for them I will go to prison, if need be; but your miscellaneous popular charities; the education at college of fools; the building of meeting-houses to the vain end to which many now stand; alms to sots; and the thousandfold Relief Societies; — though I confess with shame I sometimes succumb and give the dollar, it is a wicked dollar which by and by I shall have the manhood to withhold.

Virtues are, in the popular estimate, rather the exception than the rule. There is the man and his virtues. Men do what is called a good action, as some piece of courage or charity, much as they would pay a fine in expiation of daily non-appearance on parade. Their works are done as an apology or extenuation of their living in the world, — as invalids and the insane pay a high board. Their virtues are penances. I do not wish to expiate, but to live. My life is for itself and not for a spectacle. I much prefer that it should be of a lower strain, so it be genuine and equal, than that it should be glittering and unsteady. Wish it to be sound and sweet, and not to need diet and bleeding. The primary evidence I ask that you are a man, and refuse this appeal from the man to his actions. For myself it makes no difference that I know, whether I do or forbear those actions which are reckoned excellent. I cannot consent to pay for a privilege where I have intrinsic right. Few and mean as my gifts may be, I actually am, and do not need for my own assurance or the assurance of my fellows any secondary testimony.

What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think.

This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. The easy thing in the world is 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 solitude.

The objection to conforming to usages that have become dead to you is, that it scatters your force. It loses your time and blurs the impression of your character. If you maintain a dead church, contribute to a dead Bible-society, vote with a great party either for the government or against it, spread your table like base housekeepers, — under all these screens I have difficulty to detect the precise man you are. And, of course, so much force is withdrawn from your proper life. But do your work, and I shall know you. Do your work, and you shall reinforce yourself. A man must consider what a blindman's-buff is this game of conformity. If I know your sect, I anticipate your argument. I hear a preacher announce for his text and topic the expediency of one of the institutions of his church. Do I not know beforehand that not possibly can he say a new and spontaneous word? With all this ostentation of examining the grounds of the institution, do I not know that he will do no such thing? Do not I know that he is pledged to himself not to look but at one side, — the permitted side, not as a man, but as a parish minister? He is a retained attorney, and these airs of the bench are the emptiest affectation. Well, most men have bound their eyes with one or another handkerchief, and attached themselves to some one of these communities of opinion. This conformity makes them not false in a few particulars, authors of a few lies, but false in all particulars. Their every truth is not quite true. Their two is not the real two, their four not the real four; so that every word they say chagrins us, and we know not where to begin to set them right. Meantime nature is not slow to equip us in the prison-uniform of the party to which we adhere. We come to wear one cut of face and figure, and acquire by degrees the gentlest asinine expression. There is a mortifying experience in particular, which does not fail to wreak itself also in the general history; I mean "the foolish face of praise," the forced smile which we put on in company where we do not feel at ease in answer to conversation which does not interest us. The muscles, not spontaneously moved, but moved by a low usurping wilfulness, grow tight about the outline of the face with the most disagreeable sensation.

For nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure. And therefore a man must know how to estimate a sour face. The by-standers look askance on him in the public street or in the friend's parlour. If this aversation had its origin in contempt and resistance like his own, he might well go home with a sad countenance; but the sour faces of the multitude, like their sweet faces, have no deep cause, but are put on and off as the wind blows and a newspaper directs. Yet is the discontent of the multitude more formidable than that of the senate and the college. It is easy enough for a firm man who knows the world to brook the rage of the cultivated classes. Their rage is decorous and prudent, for they are timid as being very vulnerable themselves. But when to their feminine rage the indignation of the people is added, when the ignorant and the poor are aroused, when the unintelligent brute force that lies at the bottom of society is made to growl and mow, it needs the habit of magnanimity and religion to treat it godlike as a trifle of no concernment.

The other terror that scares us from self-trust is our consistency; a reverence for our past act or word, because the eyes of others have no other data for computing our orbit than our past acts, and we are loath to disappoint them.

But why should you keep your head over your shoulder? Why drag about this corpse of your memory, lest you contradict somewhat you have stated in this or that public place? Suppose you should contradict yourself; what then? It seems to be a rule of wisdom never to rely on your memory alone, scarcely even in acts of pure memory, but to bring the past for judgment into the thousand-eyed present, and live ever in a new day. In your metaphysics you have denied personality to the Deity: yet when the devout motions of the soul come, yield to them heart and life, though they should clothe God with shape and color. Leave your theory, as Joseph his coat in the hand of the harlot, and flee.

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. — 'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.' — Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.

I suppose no man can violate his nature.

All the sallies of his will are rounded in by the law of his being, as the inequalities of Andes and Himmaleh are insignificant in the curve of the sphere. Nor does it matter how you gauge and try him. A character is like an acrostic or Alexandrian stanza; — read it forward, backward, or across, it still spells the same thing. In this pleasing, contrite wood-life which God allows me, let me record day by day my honest thought without prospect or retrospect, and, I cannot doubt, it will be found symmetrical, though I mean it not, and see it not. My book should smell of pines and resound with the hum of insects. The swallow over my window should interweave that thread or straw he carries in his bill into my web also. We pass for what we are. Character teaches above our wills. Men imagine that they communicate their virtue or vice only by overt actions, and do not see that virtue or vice emit a breath every moment.

There will be an agreement in whatever variety of actions, so they be each honest and natural in their hour. For of one will, the actions will be harmonious, however unlike they seem. These varieties are lost sight of at a little distance, at a little height of thought. One tendency unites them all. The voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tacks. See the line from a sufficient distance, and it straightens itself to the average tendency. Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing. Act singly, and what you have already done singly will justify you now. Greatness appeals to the future. If I can be firm enough to-day to do right, and scorn eyes, I must have done so much right before as to defend me now. Be it how it will, do right now. Always scorn appearances, and you always may. The force of character is cumulative. All the foregone days of virtue work their health into this. What makes the majesty of the heroes of the senate and the field, which so fills the imagination? The consciousness of a train of great days and victories behind. They shed an united light on the advancing actor. He is attended as by a visible escort of angels. That is it which throws thunder into Chatham's voice, and dignity into Washington's port, and America into Adams's eye. Honor is venerable to us because it is no ephemeris. It is always ancient virtue. We worship it today because it is not of today. We love it and pay it homage, because it is not a trap for our love and homage, but is self-dependent, self-derived, and therefore of an old immaculate pedigree, even if shown in a young person.

I hope in these days we have heard the last of conformity and consistency. Let the words be gazetted and ridiculous henceforward. Instead of the gong for dinner, let us hear a whistle from the Spartan fife. Let us never bow and apologize more. A great man is coming to eat at my house. I do not wish to please him; He should wish to please me, that I wish. I will stand here for humanity, and though I would make it kind, I would make it true. Let us affront and reprimand the smooth mediocrity and squalid contentment of the times, and hurl in the face of custom, and trade, and office, the fact which is the upshot of all history, that there is a great responsible Thinker and Actor working wherever a man works; that a true man belongs to no other time or place, but is the centre of things. Where he is, there is nature. He measures you, and all men, and all events. Ordinarily, every body in society reminds us of somewhat else, or of some other person. Character, reality, reminds you of nothing else; it takes place of the whole creation. The man must be so much, that he must make all circumstances indifferent. Every true man is a cause, a country, and an age; requires infinite spaces and numbers and time fully to accomplish his design; — and posterity seem to follow his steps as a train of clients. A man Caesar is born, and for ages after we have a Roman Empire. Christ is born, and millions of minds so grow and cleave to his genius, that he is confounded with virtue and the possible of man. An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man; as, Monachism, of the Hermit Antony; the Reformation, of Luther; Quakerism, of Fox; Methodism, of Wesley; Abolition, of Clarkson. Scipio, Milton called "the height of Rome"; and all history resolves itself very easily into the biography of a few stout and earnest persons.

Let a man then know his worth, and keep things under his feet. Let him not peep or steal, or skulk up and down with the air of a charity-boy, a bastard, or an interloper, in the world which exists for him. But the man in the street, finding no worth in himself which corresponds to the force which built a tower or sculptured a marble god, feels poor when he looks on these. To him a palace, a statue, or a costly book have an alien and forbidding air, much like a gay equipage, and seem to say like that, 'Who are you, Sir?' Yet they all are his, suitors for his notice, petitioners to his faculties that they will come out and take possession. The picture waits for my verdict: it is not to command me, but I am to settle its claims to praise. That popular fable of the sot who was picked up dead drunk in the street, carried to the duke's house, washed and dressed and laid in the duke's bed, and, on his waking, treated with all obsequious ceremony like the duke, and assured that he had been insane, owes its popularity to the fact, that it symbolizes so well the state of man, who is in the world a sort of sot, but now and then wakes up, exercises his reason, and finds himself a true prince.

Our reading is mendicant and sycophantic. In history, our imagination plays us false. Kingdom and lordship, power and estate, are a gaudier vocabulary than private John and Edward in a small house and common day's work; but the things of life are the same to both; the sum total of both is the same. Why all this deference to Alfred, and Scanderbeg, and Gustavus? Suppose they were virtuous; did they wear out virtue? As great a stake depends on your private act to-day, as followed their public and renowned steps. When private men shall act with original views, the lustre will be transferred from the actions of kings to those of gentlemen.

The world has been instructed by its kings, who have so magnetized the eyes of nations. It has been taught by this colossal symbol the mutual reverence that is due from man to man. The joyful loyalty with which men have everywhere suffered the king, the noble, or the great proprietor to walk among them by a law of his own, make his own scale of men and things, and reverse theirs, pay for benefits not with money but with honor, and represent the law in his person, was the hieroglyphic by which they obscurely signified their consciousness of their own right and comeliness, the right of every man.

The magnetism which all original action exerts is explained when we inquire the reason of self-trust.

Who is the Trustee? What is the aboriginal Self, on which a universal reliance may be grounded? What is the nature and power of that science-baffling star, without parallax, without calculable elements, which shoots a ray of beauty even into trivial and impure actions, if the least mark of independence appear? The inquiry leads us to that source, at once the essence of genius, of virtue, and of life, which we call Spontaneity or Instinct. We denote this primary wisdom as Intuition, whilst all later teachings are tuitions. In that deep force, the last fact behind which analysis cannot go, all things find their common origin. For, the sense of being which in calm hours rises, we know not how, in the soul, is not diverse from things, from space, from light, from time, from man, but one with them, and proceeds obviously from the same source whence their life and being also proceed. We first share the life by which things exist, and afterwards see them as appearances in nature, and forget that we have shared their cause. Here is the fountain of action and of thought. Here are the lungs of that inspiration which giveth man wisdom, and which cannot be denied without impiety and atheism. We lie in the lap of immense intelligence, which makes us receivers of its truth and organs of its activity. When we discern justice, when we discern truth, we do nothing of ourselves, but allow a passage to its beams. If we ask whence this comes, if we seek to pry into the soul that causes, all philosophy is at fault. Its presence or its absence is all we can affirm. Every man discriminates between the voluntary acts of his mind, and his involuntary perceptions, and knows that to his involuntary perceptions a perfect faith is due. He may err in the expression of them, but he knows that these things are so, like day and night, not to be disputed. My wilful actions and acquisitions are but roving; — the idlest reverie, the faintest native emotion, command my curiosity and respect. Thoughtless people contradict as readily the statement of perceptions as of opinions, or rather much more readily; for, they do not distinguish between perception and notion. They fancy that I choose to see this or that thing. But perception is not whimsical, but fatal. If I see a trait, my children will see it after me, and in course of time, all mankind, — although it may chance that no one has seen it before me. For my perception of it is as much a fact as the sun.

The relations of the soul to the divine spirit are so pure, that it is profane to seek to interpose helps. It must be that when God speaketh he should communicate, not one thing, but all things; should fill the world with his voice; should scatter forth light, nature, time, souls, from the centre of the present thought; and new date and new create the whole. Whenever a mind is simple, and receives a divine wisdom, old things pass away, — means, teachers, texts, temples fall; it lives now, and absorbs past and future into the present hour. All things are made sacred by relation to it, — one as much as another. All things are dissolved to their centre by their cause, and, in the universal miracle, petty and particular miracles disappear. If, therefore, a man claims to know and speak of God, and carries you backward to the phraseology of some old mouldered nation in another country, in another world, believe him not. Is the acorn better than the oak which is its fulness and completion? Is the parent better than the child into whom he has cast his ripened being? Whence, then, this worship of the past? The centuries are conspirators against the sanity and authority of the soul. Time and space are but physiological colors which the eye makes, but the soul is light; where it is, is day; where it was, is night; and history is an impertinence and an injury, if it be anything more than a cheerful apologue or parable of my being and becoming.

Man is timid and apologetic; he is no longer upright; 'I think,' 'I am,' that he dares not say, but quotes some saint or sage. He is ashamed before the blade of grass or the blowing rose. These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God today. There is no time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence. Before a leaf bud has burst, its whole life acts; in the full-blown flower there is no more; in the leafless root there is no less. Its nature is satisfied, and it satisfies nature, in all moments alike. But man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround him, stands on tiptoe to foresee the future. He cannot be happy and strong until he too lives with nature in the present, above time.

This should be plain enough. Yet see what strong intellects dare not yet hear God himself, unless he speak the phraseology of I know not what David, or Jeremiah, or Paul. We shall not always set so great a price on a few texts, on a few lives. We are like children who repeat by rote the sentences of grandames and tutors, and, as they grow older, of the men of talents and character they chance to see, — painfully recollecting the exact words they spoke; afterwards, when they come into the point of view which those had who uttered these sayings, they understand them, and are willing to let the words go; for, at any time, they can use words as good when occasion comes. If we live truly, we shall see truly. It is as easy for the strong man to be strong, as it is for the weak to be weak. When we have new perception, we shall gladly disburden the memory of its hoarded treasures as old rubbish. When a man lives with God, his voice shall be as sweet as the murmur of the brook and the rustle of the corn.

And now at last the highest truth on this subject remains unsaid; probably cannot be said; for all that we say is the far-off remembering of the intuition. That thought, by what I can now nearest approach to say it, is this. When good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; not see the face of man; and you shall not hear any name;—— the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new. It shall exclude example and experience. You take the way from man, not to man. All persons that ever existed are its forgotten ministers. Fear and hope are alike beneath it. There is somewhat low even in hope. In the hour of vision, there is nothing that can be called gratitude, nor properly joy. The soul raised over passion beholds identity and eternal causation, perceives the self-existence of Truth and Right, and calms itself with knowing that all things go well. Vast spaces of nature, the Atlantic Ocean, the South Sea, — long intervals of time, years, centuries, — are of no account. This which I think and feel underlay every former state of life and circumstances, as it does underlie my present, and what is called life, and what is called death.

Life only avails, not the having lived.

Power ceases in the instant of repose; it resides in the moment of transition from a past to a new state, in the shooting of the gulf, in the darting to an aim. This one fact the world hates is that the soul becomes ; for that forever degrades the past, turns all riches to poverty, all reputation to a shame, confounds the saint with the rogue, shoves Jesus and Judas equally aside. Why, then, do we prate of self-reliance? Inasmuch as the soul is present, there will be power, not confidence but an agent. To talk of reliance is a poor external way of speaking. Speak rather of that which relies, because it works and is. Who has more obedience than I masters me, though he should not raise his finger. Round him I must revolve by the gravitation of spirits. We fancy it rhetoric, when we speak of eminent virtue. We do not yet see that virtue is Height, and that a man or a company of men, plastic and permeable to principles, by the law of nature must overpower and ride all cities, nations, kings, rich men, poets, who are not.

This is the ultimate fact which we so quickly reach on this, as on every topic, the resolution of all into the ever-blessed ONE. Self-existence is the attribute of the Supreme Cause, and it constitutes the measure of good by the degree in which it enters into all lower forms. All things real are so by so much virtue as they contain. Commerce, husbandry, hunting, whaling, war, eloquence , personal weight, are somewhat, and engage my respect as examples of its presence and impure action. I see the same law working in nature for conservation and growth. Power is in nature the essential measure of right. Nature suffers nothing to remain in her kingdoms which cannot help itself. The genesis and maturation of a planet, its poise and orbit, the bended tree recovering itself from the strong wind, the vital resources of every animal and vegetable, are demonstrations of the self-sufficing, and therefore self-relying soul.

Thus all concentrates: let us not rove; let us sit at home with the cause. Let us stun and astonish the intruding rabble of men and books and institutions, by a simple declaration of the divine fact. Bid the invaders take the shoes from off their feet, for God is here within. Let our simplicity judge them, and our docility to our own law demonstrate the poverty of nature and fortune beside our native riches.

But now we are a mob. Man does not stand in awe of man, nor is his genius admonished to stay at home, to put itself in communication with the internal ocean, but it goes abroad to beg a cup of water of the urns of other men. We must go alone. I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching. How far off, how cool, how chaste the persons look, begirt each one with a precinct or sanctuary! So let us always sit. Why should we assume the faults of our friend, or wife, or father, or child, because they sit around our hearth, or are said to have the same blood? All men have my blood, and I have all men's. Not for that will I adopt their petulance or folly, even to the extent of being ashamed of it. But your isolation must not be mechanical, but spiritual, that is, must be elevation. At times the whole world seems to be in conspiracy to importune you with emphatic trifles. Friend, client, child, sickness, fear, want, charity, all knock at once at thy closet door, and say, — 'Come out unto us.' But keep thy state; come not into their confusion. The power men possess to annoy me, I give them by a weak curiosity. No man can come near me but through my act. "What we love that we have, but by desire we bereave ourselves of the love."

If we cannot at once rise to the sanctities of obedience and faith, let us at least resist our temptations; let us enter into the state of war, and wake Thor and Woden, courage and constancy, in our Saxon breasts. This is to be done in our smooth times by speaking the truth. Check this lying hospitality and lying affection. Live no longer to the expectation of these deceived and deceiving people with whom we converse. Say to them, O father, O mother, O wife, O brother, O friend, I have lived with you after appearances hitherto. Henceforward I am the truth's. Be it known unto you that henceforward I obey no law less than the eternal law. I will have no covenants but proximities. To nourish my parents, to support my family I shall endeavour, to be the chaste husband of one wife, — but these relations I must fill after a new and unprecedented way. I appeal from your customs that I must be myself. I cannot break myself any longer for you, or you. If you can love me for what I am, we shall be the happier. If you cannot, I will still seek to deserve that you should. I will not hide my tastes or aversions. I will so trust that what is deep is holy, that I will do strongly before the sun and moon whatever inly rejoices me, and the heart appoints. If you are noble, I will love you; I will not hurt you and myself by hypocritical attentions if you are not. If you are true, but not in the same truth with me, cleave to your companions; I will seek my own. I do this not selfishly, but humbly and truly. It is alike your interest, and mine, and all men's, however long we have dwelt in lies, to live in truth. Does this sound harsh today? You will soon love what is dictated by your nature as well as mine, and, if we follow the truth, it will bring us out safe at last. — But so you may give these friends pain. Yes, but I cannot sell my liberty and my power, to save their sensibility. Besides, all persons have their moments of reason, when they look out into the region of absolute truth; then will they justify me, and do the same thing.

The populace think that your rejection of popular standards is a rejection of all standard, and mere antinomianism; and the bold sensualist will use the name of philosophy to gild his crimes. But the law of consciousness abides. There are two confessionals, in one or the other of which we must be shriven. You may fulfil your round of duties by clearing yourself in the direct , or in the reflex way. Consider whether you have satisfied your relations to father, mother, cousin, neighbour, town, cat, and dog; whether any of these can upbraid you. But I may also neglect this reflex standard, and absolve me to myself. I have my own stern claims and perfect circle. It denies the name of duty to many offices that are called duties. But if I can discharge its debts, it enables me to dispense with the popular code. If anyone imagines that this law is lax, let him keep its commandment one day.

And truly it demands something godlike in him who has cast off the common motives of humanity, and has ventured to trust himself for a taskmaster. High be his heart, faithful his will, clear his sight, that he may in good earnest be doctrine, society, law, to himself, that a simple purpose may be to him as strong as iron necessity is to others!

If any man consider the present aspects of what is called by distinction society , he will see the need of these ethics. The sinew and heart of man seem to be drawn out, and we are become timorous, desponding whimperers. We are afraid of truth, afraid of fortune, afraid of death, and afraid of each other. Our age yields no great and perfect persons. We want men and women who shall renovate life and our social state, but we see that most natures are insolvent, cannot satisfy their own wants, have an ambition out of all proportion to their practical force, and do lean and beg day and night continually. Our housekeeping is mendicant, our arts, our occupations, our marriages, our religion, we have not chosen, but society has chosen for us. We are parlour soldiers. We shun the rugged battle of fate , where strength is born.

If our young men miscarry in their first enterprises, they lose all heart.

Men say he is ruined if the young merchant fails . If the finest genius studies at one of our colleges, and is not installed in an office within one year afterwards in the cities or suburbs of Boston or New York, it seems to his friends and to himself that he is right in being disheartened, and in complaining the rest of his life. A sturdy lad from New Hampshire or Vermont, who in turn tries all the professions, who teams it , farms it , peddles , keeps a school, preaches, edits a newspaper, goes to Congress, buys a township, and so forth, in successive years, and always, like a cat, falls on his feet, is worth a hundred of these city dolls. He walks abreast with his days, and feels no shame in not 'studying a profession,' for he does not postpone his life, but lives already. He has not one chance, but a hundred chances. Let a Stoic open the resources of man, and tell men they are not leaning willows, but can and must detach themselves; that with the exercise of self-trust, new powers shall appear; that a man is the word made flesh, born to shed healing to the nations, that he should be ashamed of our compassion, and that the moment he acts from himself, tossing the laws, the books, idolatries, and customs out of the window, we pity him no more, but thank and revere him, — and that teacher shall restore the life of man to splendor, and make his name dear to all history.

It is easy to see that a greater self-reliance must work a revolution in all the offices and relations of men; in their religion; education; and in their pursuits; their modes of living; their association; in their property; in their speculative views.

1. In what prayers do men allow themselves! That which they call a holy office is not so much as brave and manly. Prayer looks abroad and asks for some foreign addition to come through some foreign virtue, and loses itself in endless mazes of natural and supernatural, and mediatorial and miraculous. It is prayer that craves a particular commodity, — anything less than all good, — is vicious. Prayer is the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view. It is the soliloquy of a beholding and jubilant soul. It is the spirit of God pronouncing his works good. But prayer as a means to effect a private end is meanness and theft. It supposes dualism and not unity in nature and consciousness. As soon as the man is at one with God, he will not beg. He will then see prayer in all action. The prayer of the farmer kneeling in his field to weed it, the prayer of the rower kneeling with the stroke of his oar, are true prayers heard throughout nature, though for cheap ends. Caratach, in Fletcher's Bonduca, when admonished to inquire the mind of the god Audate, replies, —

"His hidden meaning lies in our endeavours; Our valors are our best gods."

Another sort of false prayers are our regrets. Discontent is the want of self-reliance: it is infirmity of will. Regret calamities, if you can thereby help the sufferer; if not, attend your own work, and already the evil begins to be repaired. Our sympathy is just as base. We come to them who weep foolishly, and sit down and cry for company, instead of imparting to them truth and health in rough electric shocks, putting them once more in communication with their own reason. The secret of fortune is joy in our hands. Welcome evermore to gods and men is the self-helping man. For him all doors are flung wide: him all tongues greet, all honors crown, all eyes follow with desire. Our love goes out to him and embraces him, because he did not need it. We solicitously and apologetically caress and celebrate him, because he held on his way and scorned our disapprobation. The gods love him because men hated him. "To the persevering mortal," said Zoroaster, "the blessed Immortals are swift."

As men's prayers are a disease of the will, so are their creeds a disease of the intellect . They say with those foolish Israelites, 'Let not God speak to us, lest we die. Speak thou, speak any man with us, and we will obey.' Everywhere I am hindered of meeting God in my brother, because he has shut his own temple doors, and recites fables merely of his brother's, or his brother's brother's God. Every new mind is a new classification. If it prove a mind of uncommon activity and power, a Locke, a Lavoisier, a Hutton, a Bentham, a Fourier, it imposes its classification on other men, and lo! a new system. In proportion to the depth of the thought, and so to the number of the objects it touches and brings within reach of the pupil, is his complacency. But chiefly is this apparent in creeds and churches, which are also classifications of some powerful mind acting on the elemental thought of duty, and man's relation to the Highest. Such as Calvinism, Quakerism, Swedenborgism. The pupil takes the same delight in subordinating everything to the new terminology, as a girl who has just learned botany in seeing a new earth and new seasons thereby. It will happen for a time, that the pupil will find his intellectual power has grown by the study of his master's mind. But in all unbalanced minds, the classification is idolized, passes for the end, and not for a speedily exhaustible means, so that the walls of the system blend to their eye in the remote horizon with the walls of the universe; the luminaries of heaven seem to them hung on the arch their master built. They cannot imagine how you aliens have any right to see, — how you can see; 'It must be somehow that you stole the light from us.' They do not yet perceive, that light, unsystematic, indomitable, will break into any cabin, even into theirs. Let them chirp awhile and call it their own. If they are honest and do well, presently their neat new pinfold will be too strait and low, will crack, will lean, will rot and vanish, and the immortal light, all young and joyful, million-orbed, million-colored, will beam over the universe as on the first morning.

2. It is for want of self-culture that the superstition of Travelling, whose idols are Italy, England, Egypt, retains its fascination for all educated Americans. They who made England, Italy, or Greece venerable in the imagination did so by sticking fast where they were, like an axis of the earth. In manly hours, we feel that duty is our place. The soul is no traveller; the wise man stays at home, and when his necessities, his duties, on any occasion call him from his house, or into foreign lands, he is at home still, and shall make men sensible by the expression of his countenance, that he goes the missionary of wisdom and virtue, and visits cities and men like a sovereign, and not like an interloper or a valet.

I have no churlish objection to the circumnavigation of the globe, for the purposes of art, of study, and benevolence, so that the man is first domesticated, or does not go abroad with the hope of finding somewhat greater than he knows. He who travels to be amused, or to get somewhat which he does not carry, travels away from himself, and grows old even in youth among old things. In Thebes, in Palmyra, his will and mind have become old and dilapidated as they. He carries ruins to ruins.

Travelling is a fool's paradise. Our first journeys discover to us the indifference of places. At home I dream that at Naples, at Rome, I can be intoxicated with beauty, and lose my sadness. I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea, and at last wake up in Naples, and there beside me is the stern fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from. The Vatican, and the palaces I seek. But I am not intoxicated though I affect to be intoxicated with sights and suggestions. My giant goes with me wherever I go.

3. But the rage of travelling is a symptom of a deeper unsoundness affecting the whole intellectual action. The intellect is vagabond, and our system of education fosters restlessness. Our minds travel when our bodies are forced to stay at home. We imitate, and what is imitation but the travelling of the mind? Our houses are built with foreign taste; Shelves are garnished with foreign ornaments, but our opinions, our tastes, our faculties, lean, and follow the Past and the Distant. The soul created the arts wherever they have flourished. It was in his own mind that the artist sought his model. It was an application of his own thought to the thing to be done and the conditions to be observed. And why need we copy the Doric or the Gothic model? Beauty, convenience, grandeur of thought, and quaint expression are as near to us as to any, and if the American artist will study with hope and love the precise thing to be done by him, considering the climate, the soil, the length of the day, the wants of the people, the habit and form of the government, he will create a house in which all these will find themselves fitted, and taste and sentiment will be satisfied also.

Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation, but of the adopted talent of another, you have only an extemporaneous, half possession. That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him. No man yet knows what it is, nor can, till that person has exhibited it. Where is the master who could have taught Shakespeare? Where is the master who could have instructed Franklin, or Washington, or Bacon, or Newton? Every great man is a unique. The Scipionism of Scipio is precisely that part he could not borrow. Shakespeare will never be made by the study of Shakespeare. Do that which is assigned you, and you cannot hope too much or dare too much. There is at this moment for you an utterance brave and grand as that of the colossal chisel of Phidias, or trowel of the Egyptians, or the pen of Moses, or Dante, but different from all these. Not possibly will the soul all rich, all eloquent, with thousand-cloven tongue, deign to repeat itself; but if you can hear what these patriarchs say, surely you can reply to them in the same pitch of voice; for the ear and the tongue are two organs of one nature. Abide in the simple and noble regions of thy life, obey thy heart, and thou shalt reproduce the Foreworld again.

4. As our Religion, our Education, our Art look abroad, so does our spirit of society. All men plume themselves on the improvement of society, and no man improves.

Society never advances. It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on the other and undergoes continual changes; it is barbarous,  civilized, christianized, rich and it is scientific, but this change is not amelioration. For everything that is given, something is taken. Society acquires new arts, and loses old instincts. What a contrast between the well-clad, reading, writing, thinking American, with a watch, a pencil, and a bill of exchange in his pocket, and the naked New Zealander, whose property is a club, a spear, a mat, and an undivided twentieth of a shed to sleep under! But compare the health of the two men, and you shall see that the white man has lost his aboriginal strength. If the traveller tell us truly, strike the savage with a broad axe, and in a day or two, the flesh shall unite and heal as if you struck the blow into soft pitch, and the same blow shall send the white to his grave.

The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet. He is supported on crutches, but lacks so much support of muscle. He has a fine Geneva watch, but he fails of the skill to tell the hour by the sun. A Greenwich nautical almanac he has, and so being sure of the information when he wants it, the man in the street does not know a star in the sky. The solstice he does not observe, the equinox he knows as little, and the whole bright calendar of the year are without a dial in his mind. His note-books impair his memory; his libraries overload his wit; the insurance office increases the number of accidents; and it may be a question whether machinery does not encumber; whether we have not lost by refinement some energy, by a Christianity entrenched in establishments and forms, some vigor of wild virtue. For every Stoic was a Stoic, but in Christendom, where is the Christian?

There is no more deviation in the moral standard than in the standard of height or bulk. No greater men are now than ever were. A singular equality may be observed between the great men of the first and of the last ages; nor can all the science, art, religion, and philosophy of the nineteenth century avail to educate greater men than Plutarch's heroes, three or four and twenty centuries ago. Not in time is the race progressive. Phocion, Socrates, Anaxagoras, Diogenes, are great men, but they leave no class. He who is really of their class will not be called by their name, but will be his own man, and, in his turn, the founder of a sect. The arts and inventions of each period are only its costume, and do not invigorate men. The harm of the improved machinery may compensate its good. Hudson and Behring accomplished so much in their fishing boats, as to astonish Parry and Franklin, whose equipment exhausted the resources of science and art. Galileo, with an opera-glass, discovered a more splendid series of celestial phenomena than anyone since. Columbus found the New World in an undecked boat. It is curious to see the periodical disuse and perishing of means and machinery, which were introduced with loud laudation a few years or centuries before. The great genius returns to essential man. We reckoned the improvements of the art of war among the triumphs of science, and yet Napoleon conquered Europe by the bivouac, which consisted of falling back on naked valor and disencumbering it of all aids. The Emperor held it impossible to make a perfect army, says Las Casas, "without abolishing our arms, magazines, commissaries, and carriages, until, in imitation of the Roman custom, the soldier should receive his supply of corn, grind it in his hand-mill, and bake his bread himself."

Society is a wave. The wave moves onward, but the water of which it is composed does not. The same particle does not rise from the valley to the ridge. Its unity is only phenomenal. The persons who make up a nation today, next year die, and their experience with them.

And so the reliance on Property, including the reliance on governments which protect it, is the want of self-reliance. Men have looked away from themselves and at things so long, that they have come to esteem the religious, learned, and civil institutions as guards of property, and they deprecate assaults on these, because they feel them to be assaults on property. They measure their esteem of each other by what each has, and not by what each is. But a cultivated man becomes ashamed of his property, out of new respect for his nature. Especially he hates what he has, if he see that it is accidental, — came to him by inheritance, or gift, or crime; then he feels that it is not having; it does not belong to him, has no root in him, and merely lies there, because no revolution or no robber takes it away. But that which a man is does always by necessity acquire, and what the man acquires is living property, which does not wait the beck of rulers, or mobs, or revolutions, or fire, or storm, or bankruptcies, but perpetually renews itself wherever the man breathes. "Thy lot or portion of life," said the Caliph Ali, "is seeking after thee; therefore, be at rest from seeking after it." Our dependence on these foreign goods leads us to our slavish respect for numbers. The political parties meet in numerous conventions; the greater the concourse, and with each new uproar of announcement, The delegation from Essex! The Democrats from New Hampshire! The Whigs of Maine! the young patriot feels himself stronger than before by a new thousand of eyes and arms. In like manner the reformers summon conventions, and vote and resolve in multitude. Not so, O friends! will the God deign to enter and inhabit you, but by a method precisely the reverse. It is only as a man puts off all foreign support, and stands alone, that I see him to be strong and to prevail. He is weaker by every recruit to his banner. Is not a man better than a town? Ask nothing of men, and in the endless mutation, thou only firm column must presently appear the upholder of all that surrounds thee. He who knows that power is inborn, that he is weak because he has looked for good out of him and elsewhere, and so perceiving, throws himself unhesitatingly on his thought, instantly rights himself, stands in the erect position, commands his limbs, works miracles; just as a man who stands on his feet is stronger than a man who stands on his head.

So use all that is called Fortune. Most men gamble with her, and gain all, and lose all, as her wheel rolls. But do thou leave as unlawful these winnings, and deal with Cause and Effect, the chancellors of God. In the Will work and acquire, and thou hast chained the wheel of Chance, and shalt sit hereafter out of fear from her rotations. A political victory, a rise of rents, the recovery of your sick, or the return of your absent friend, or some other favorable event, raises your spirits, and you think good days are preparing for you. Do not believe it. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.

Which quotation from "Self-reliance" best summarizes Emerson’s view on belief in oneself?

One of the most famous quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self-Reliance" that summarizes his view on belief in oneself is:

"Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string."

What does Emerson argue should be the basis of human actions in the second paragraph of “self-reliance”?

In the second paragraph of "Self-Reliance," Emerson argues that individual conscience, or a person's inner voice, should be the basis of human actions. He writes, "Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist." He believes that society tends to impose conformity and discourage people from following their own inner truth and intuition. Emerson encourages individuals to trust themselves and to act according to their own beliefs, instead of being influenced by the opinions of others. He argues that this is the way to live a truly authentic and fulfilling life.

Which statement best describes Emerson’s opinion of communities, according to the first paragraph of society and solitude?

According to the first paragraph of Ralph Waldo Emerson's " Society and Solitude, " Emerson has a mixed opinion of communities. He recognizes the importance of social interaction and the benefits of being part of a community but also recognizes the limitations that come with it.

He writes, "Society everywhere is in a conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members." He argues that society can be limiting and restrictive, and can cause individuals to conform to norms and values that may not align with their own beliefs and desires. He believes that it is important for individuals to strike a balance between the benefits of social interaction and the need for solitude and self-discovery.

Which best describes Emerson’s central message to his contemporaries in "self-reliance"?

Ralph Waldo Emerson's central message to his contemporaries in "Self-Reliance" is to encourage individuals to trust in their own beliefs and instincts, and to break free from societal norms and expectations. He argues that individuals should have the courage to think for themselves and to live according to their own individual truth, rather than being influenced by the opinions of others. Through this message, he aims to empower people to live authentic and fulfilling lives, rather than living in conformity and compromise.

Yet, it is critical that we first possess the ability to conceive our own thoughts. Prior to venturing into the world, we must be intimately acquainted with our own selves and our individual minds. This sentiment echoes the concise maxim inscribed at the ancient Greek site of the Delphic Oracle: 'Know Thyself.'

In essence, Emerson's central message in "Self-Reliance" is to promote self-reliance and individualism as the key to a meaningful and purposeful life.

Understanding Emerson: "The American scholar" and his struggle for self-reliance.

Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09982-0

Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Other works from ralph waldo emerson for book clubs, the over-soul.

There is a difference between one and another hour of life, in their authority and subsequent effect. Our faith comes in moments; our vice is habitual.

The American Scholar

An Oration delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, at Cambridge, August 31, 1837

Essays First Series

Essays: First Series First published in 1841 as Essays. After Essays: Second Series was published in 1844, Emerson corrected this volume and republished it in 1847 as Essays: First Series.

Emerson's Essays

Research the collective works of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Read More Essay

Self-Reliance

Emerson's most famous work that can truly change your life. Check it out

Early Emerson Poems

America's best known and best-loved poems. More Poems

The Importance of Self Reliance (Essay Example)

As society has continued to develop and advance in many different fields, new social problems continue to arise. The text, “Self-Reliance”, written by Ralph Waldo Emerson, discusses the importance of self reliance and how self reliance affects both the individual and society. As Emerson discusses the importance of self reliance and how it affects society, Emerson criticizes society for conformity and its members as they follow these social norms and trends. In the context of “Self-Reliance”, society most definitely affects a person’s value and certainly not in a positive way.

The text, “Self-Reliance”, states that society conforms its members which disrupts the thinking, confidence, and self reliance a person has. For example, Emerson states, “Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. Society is a joint-stock company in which the members agree for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater, the virtue in most requests is conformity.” Emerson is basically saying that members of society follow crowds or conform, and people no longer think for themselves because they want a feel of security. Society conforms its members due to the fact that many people have low self-esteem which causes them to agree and support the opinions of bigger groups. Their fear of failure also causes them to follow others, instead of thinking for themselves. This cycle continues as the newer generations conform towards the older generations. Based on the evidence presented, disruption of individual thinking, confidence, and self reliance are caused by the conformity presented by society. 

While some might argue that societal conformity encourages cooperation between peers, this cooperation could lead to the discouragement of self-thinking and self-reliance just like what is stated in Emerson’s text, “Self-Reliance.” Another common argument is that societal conformity creates good social groups that could improve a person’s moral, self-confidence, judgement, and overall safety; however, the opposite could happen and the effects could be reversed which could cause someone to make horrible and dangerous decisions. The same thing could be said for the effects conformity has on someone’s creativity. Conformity can challenge one’s creativity, but at the same time, limits it. 

In the context of “Self-Reliance”, Society affects people’s value in a negative way as societal conformity is the result of human insecurity. It is a never ending cycle that will continue to discourage individual thinking, self-reliance, confidence, creativity, and overall diversity between the billions of people currently alive. In order for people to stop conforming in society, people would need to regain the trust of society and their own trust in themselves

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What is Self-Reliance and How to Develop It?

Even though Ralph Waldo Emerson may not have introduced the concept, it was he who brought it to the general public with his 1841 essay Self-Reliance .

In positive psychology, self-reliance has strong theoretical significance thanks to its implications for happiness. You’ll probably notice some overlap, or at least potential implications for self-worth, self-expression, self-knowledge, resilience, and for self-acceptance.

So, it’s not about doing everything yourself. It’s not about being financially independent, either. And it’s certainly not about shouldering every hardship you face all on your lonesome. In this article, we’ll have a look at what being self-reliant really refers to, and how we can develop it within ourselves.

Before you read on, we thought you might like to download our three Self-Compassion Exercises for free . These science-based exercises will not only help you increase the compassion and kindness you show yourself but will also give you the tools to help your clients, students or employees show compassion and develop the confidence to rely on themselves.

This Article Contains:

What is the meaning of self-reliance, the psychology of self-reliance, ralph waldo emerson and self-reliance, 3 examples of self-reliance, the importance of having self-reliance, how to develop self-reliance, 14 self-reliance skills for preschoolers, 3 self-reliance activities for youth (pdf), the self-reliance scale, self-reliance and transcendentalism, recommended youtube videos, a take-home message.

Interestingly, there’s no single sentence—not even from Emerson himself—that really captures all the aspects of self-reliance in one pop.

Merriam Webster defines self-reliance simply as ‘ reliance on one’s own efforts and abilities ’, which doesn’t quite do the concept much justice, either.

Let’s look at the psychological mentions of self-reliance for a better understanding.

In an age where statistics allows almost everything to be psychometrically measured and operational definitions abound, it isn’t surprising that there’s no one definition for self-reliance.

What we do know is that the concept has been linked to ‘the self’—in its psychological sense—for at least several decades (Baumeister, 1987).

More specifically, self-reliance is consistently mentioned alongside, if not within, discussions of self-definition. What makes it unique is the approach to society that self-reliance encompasses—it has been alluded to roughly in psychological journals as:

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As mentioned, Self-Reliance is the topic (and title) of an 1841 essay from US philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. Born in Boston in 1803, Emerson wrote poetry and gave lectures that would greatly influence other famous names such as Henry Thoreau and Walt Whitman (IEP, 2019).

Self-Reliance contains Emerson’s beliefs and perspectives on how society negatively impacts our growth. He argues strongly that self-reliance, self-trust, and individualism, amongst other things, are ways that we can avoid the conformity imposed upon us. Or, he also argues, that we quite frequently impose upon ourselves.

It’s a powerful piece of work, and although I’ll try to isolate the most heavily emphasized aspects, it is definitely worth reading in its entirety. If you’d rather listen, there’s also a link to the free audiobook at the end of this article.

Many things can be construed from Emerson’s writings. Here are a few examples of some key concepts that shine through in his seminal essay, Self-Reliance .

1. Thinking Independently

The ability to think autonomously goes hand in hand with trusting your own instinct. Lots of Emerson’s work centered on how people tend to ‘hide behind’ what they’ve learned from society, or significant others within society. He believed this was mere imitation and was linked with a lack of confidence in one’s own intuition and rational capabilities.

Basically, if you (or I, or anyone) believe in something, and consider that it holds merit after thinking it through, there should be nothing holding us back from voicing it with confidence. Not to do so, Emerson believed, is to conform to societal expectations for no good reason.

2. Embracing Your Individuality

As a more practical example, we can imagine that Bella has parents who are both lawyers. They want nothing more than for Bella to follow in their footsteps and are encouraged by her excellent grades at school.

At home, however, Bella finds that she’s spending every spare minute writing poetry. She wants to make a difference to the world and touch people’s lives through verse. This is where she finds her greatest happiness and decides instead to pursue a career as a poet instead.

3. Striving Towards Your Own Goals, Bravely

In an extension of the above, Bella seeks to take steps toward achieving her own goals of becoming a poet. She’s aware that she’ll receive a lot more emotional and financial support by following her parents’ dreams, but she’s willing to take her chances. Bella believes in ‘cause and effect’ (Emerson, 1967), and purposeful action. She isn’t overly concerned about rejection by her parents, because she just wants to be herself.

These examples are based on the key arguments in Emerson’s original paper on self-reliance, and represent the three concepts most closely related to individualism. It’s important to remember that self-reliance is not about cutting yourself off from everybody.

That is, being true to yourself, being capable of independent thought, knowing your own loves and being able to pursue them independently of others’ judgments is not the same as isolating yourself from society.

While Emerson does expand considerably on the value of solitude, the idea of social networks—of having friends—features strongly in his work. We’ll touch on these shortly when we look at how to develop self-reliance.

Having self-reliance is important for several reasons. The most obvious being that depending on others for help, means there will be times when it’s not available.

But let’s dig a little deeper to understand how and why you can use this concept to flourish, grow, find, and nurture happiness. Self-reliance is also important because it:

• Means you can solve problems and make decisions by yourself . This is critical as we grow older and learn to live independently;
• Allows you to feel happy by yourself, in yourself , and about yourself —without needing to rely on others;
• Involves developing self-acceptance , a very powerful thing to have;
• Involves acquiring self-knowledge and practicing self-compassion ;
• Gives you perspective, which in turn…
• Gives you direction.

Of course, the list is very far from exhaustive. If you have personally experienced, or believe other important benefits from becoming self-reliant, please do share them.

Whether you want to develop self-reliance yourself, or you’d like to help your child on their own journey of development, here are some tips.

Steps to self-reliance – Mandy Kloppers

In an article on developing self-reliance, mental health counselor Mandy Kloppers offers several practical steps.

Her main tips include (Kloppers, 2019):

1. Accepting yourself, and being your own best friend.

Learning and appreciating your own character strengths is very important in being able to support yourself as you go through life. What are your character strengths ? Are you kind? Curious? Brave? Don’t forget to reflect on your achievements and the things you accomplish that make you feel proud. It’s important not to put yourself down or sabotage your own efforts.

2. Inner confidence.

In society, we’re conditioned to feel happy when we receive compliments, praise, and reassurance from others. If that’s not forthcoming, we can feel insecure or vulnerable, sometimes even helpless. Being self-reliant involves the ability to feel confident in yourself when these aren’t around—because they may not always be. Not sure what to be confident about? Try one of these activities to increase your sense of self-worth .

3. Making our own decisions.

Kloppers advises against looking consistently outside for security and relying on others to accept us for who we are. When we can accept ourselves as unique and practice non-judgment, we can find security from inner sources.

This rational, independent thinking is something we’ve already touched on. As children, we learn to look to others for guidance when solving problems or making decisions. The tendency becomes ingrained within us, and as adults, we aren’t always capable of handling adversity in a way that we feel sure about. Have confidence in your own capabilities and it becomes a lot easier to find security within.

4. Recognize and manage dependence.

Becoming aware of when you tend to turn to others is a part of self-knowledge. We may know that we turn to others for certain things, but sometimes this means we’re missing out on a chance to build up our own confidence. Setting goals and achieving them your own way not only gives you a sense of accomplishment and reward but greater belief in your own judgment.

5. Accept yourself for who you are.

Self-acceptance is a huge thing. Instead of looking to others for approval, it’s alright to give that approval yourself. Seeking others’ acceptance is yet another way that we practice dependence on others, and it can be a pervasive, hard-to-shake habit. To develop self-reliance, we need to notice these tendencies before we can change them. But it’s worth it.

You can read more in the original post .

Self-reliance – Ralph Waldo Emerson

We can also draw very clear inferences directly from Emerson’s essay itself. From this, more ways to develop self-reliance include:

1. Having your own values.

Society’s values may not be aligned with our own deep-rooted beliefs. This can be at such a subconscious level that we don’t always pick up on it. If society values one thing, and it’s not congruent with our own, we can feel as though it’s hard to gain acceptance.

For example, you may value diversity and inclusiveness but maybe work somewhere that doesn’t also value such a culture. This creates cognitive dissonance that can be unpleasant to deal with (Fostinger, 1957).

2. Not relying on ‘things’ to feel happiness.

Emerson also argued strongly about the negative potential influences of material possessions; he was of the belief that we live in materialistic times. Life is constantly changing if we tie our happiness to external objects, what happens when they’re gone?

3. Decide who you want to be, and how you want to get there.

Pretty much, this is almost the same as having your own values. Except that once we know our own values, we can understand what makes us happy and how we would like to live our lives. Then, we exercise our own judgment about how we want to get there.

Arguably, these aren’t the only ways we can develop self-reliance. It’s also true that children will often need much simpler approaches to learning that can often start at a more practical level. Learning to tie one’s own shoelaces, take on little jobs, and so forth.

Self-reliance begins at an early age; at least, some basic elements of it definitely do.

Other aspects of self-concept take a little more time to really develop—such as learning to view ourselves as independent and challenging others’ perspectives.

Examples of self-reliance skills for preschoolers are far more simple. According to preschool director and author Carolyn Tomlin , self-reliance includes:

1. Solving Problems Themselves

Of course, these will be problems that can reasonably be considered within the cognitive and physical capabilities of K1 and K2 kids. Teachers and parents can offer preschoolers support and help during the process while allowing them the freedom to trial-and-error and exercise discretion (Vygotsky, 1978).

2. Making Their Own Rules For Play

As kids play, there are times when teachers can step back and let them establish their own rules for games and make-believe. Through this, they can develop their own boundaries (NIDirect.gov.uk, 2019).

3. Scheduling Routine Tasks

Tomlin suggests parents and educators start small and work their way up gradually. That is, an adult can make the child a timetable for chores that they are expected to complete. Kids can check these off as they complete them or put a star beside the task. Over time, these chores will adapt to suit a kids level of development, but they can start simple, like feeding a pet or cleaning their play area.

4. Managing Their Time

This builds on the previous skill. As they grow, kids can learn to start doing the timetabling for themselves. A nice exercise for this is included in the next section on Self-Reliance Activities for Youth.

5. Developing Independent Thought

Giving kids options allows them to think and choose for themselves. This is the first step toward independent thought at a much higher level later on.

6. Making Friends

Emerson described the joy of friendship as (1967): “ the spiritual inspiration that comes…when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship ”. As kids make friends, they learn to build up positive images of themselves while expressing care and empathy for their peers.

7. Completing What They Begin

When the initial fun wears off, the temptation to just walk away from an activity is pretty familiar to most of us. This is despite the fact that perseverance can often lead to incredibly rewarding and intrinsically motivating results. Teaching kids to complete small tasks that they get started on is a good way to help them develop self-knowledge, self-discipline, and pursue larger goals (Locke & Latham, 1990).

8. Tidying Up After Themselves

Such a basic self-reliance skill that most of us probably can’t recall when or where we learned it the first time around. For preschoolers, it provides a sense of stability and predictability—but more importantly, a means for achieving it. This can be valuable for dealing with turmoil or adversity in more serious scenarios.

9. Asking for help

In order to learn, and to eventually make rational, individual decisions, kids shouldn’t be afraid to reach out for help when they need it. Being comfortable with yourself, as Emerson argued, is a key part of being self-reliant (Emerson, 1967). Even if that means asking others for guidance or clarification (Warburton, 2016).

In another look at self-reliance in children, Prime Performance Psychologist Dr. Jim Taylor offers up some broader categories for self-reliance skills in kids (Taylor, 2018):

1. Cognitive Skills – gathering and rationally analyzing information to solve problems and make decisions;

2. Emotional Skills – Managing emotions responsibly. This is very similar to the Emotional Intelligence concept of Emotional Regulation, and applies to our social interactions with others;

3. Behavioral Skills – These include working and studying, though at the preschool level they will still be relevant at a much, much simpler level;

4. Interpersonal Skills – Making friends, communicating, and related skills;

5. Practical Skills – Here, Taylor describes activities in everyday life, just like the chores suggested by Tomlin above. For preschoolers, this could mean tidying up their toys, feeding a pet, or similar.

In this next part, some more specific activities and PDFs that will hopefully give a better sense of how both preschoolers and older kids can develop self-reliance.

If you’re a teacher, parent, or are involved in youth work, here are three activities (as PDFs) that you can easily download and use as resources. There are a few different elements of self-reliance within these, including simple practical tasks that younger ones can easily get a hold of.

1. I am and I can

This one’s a group activity that’s best suited for younger children of about KS1 or KS2.

The underpinning theory of this exercise is that kids can develop a sense of their own competence by learning to identify their own strengths as a person. These can include unique capabilities, talents, and characteristics—once kids become aware of these, they can tune into these positive aspects in difficult situations.

You will need some large pieces of paper, drawing materials, and some space for the group.

Start by inviting the kids to think of things that they can do well, and which make them feel good about that ability. For example, this could be running really fast or able to pick out different types of birds.

You can then play a round of ‘I am good at…’, in which kids take turns to chat about these things by finishing the sentence. If you find that one or more children don’t feel they can respond, ask another kid to step in with something they believe that person does well.

Then, talk about how learning is a lifelong activity—it’s something we never stop doing and we are always learning new skills. You can use this opportunity to go back over the things they’ve just said, which they didn’t have a few years ago. Share one of your own learning experiences and note any difficulties you encountered, but end with how satisfying it was to finally learn that skill.

End with a group round of ‘I can…’, giving the children a chance to re-affirm their beliefs in their strengths.

Kids can then break into smaller groups. In these, one child will lie on a piece of paper while the others draw around him or her, creating a body outline. Get the rest of the children to ‘decorate’ this body shape by drawing all the talents and skills they can see in that child. The final touch is that each group member can write a positive statement of encouragement and put it by the body outline.

These completed ‘body shapes’ are good to hang around the classroom, so kids can see them every day.

2. Getting Organized

Another great self-reliance activity for children of writing age is getting them to schedule their own time.

This is a simplified exercise centered on individualism and personal responsibility, two of Emerson’s key foci. Of course, you can flexibly adapt the difficulty and independence level of the timetabling approach to suit a certain young person’s particular needs and their level of development.

It’s as simple as asking them to create their own timetable for reaching their weekly, monthly, annual, or long-term goals. Children can use this activity to learn that getting there in the future means organizing now . They can also get affirmation about their achievements by logging when they accomplish a certain task or goal.

Headings that you may find useful for a timetable include:

Subject – Kids can write the theme of their goal, and you can use homework as one idea, or broader life goals as another.

Assignment/Responsibility – Another possibility is ‘ Change I want to Make ’, although this would ideally accompany another category encompassing ‘ Steps I can take to make the change ’ (Polk Mentoring Alliance, 2008: 18).

Due Date ; and

Completed – Where the child can have a visible reminder of their accomplishments.

3. Personal Mission Statement

The PDF we just introduced in the last exercise also has some resources for children to create their own personal mission statements.

However, we thought it would be nice to provide a template that teenagers and older children might be able to benefit from.

Personal Mission Statements also ask a young person to think about who they are, what they represent, what they want to accomplish, and why. They encourage self-reliance by inviting the writer to look inside themselves and seek their own values and beliefs.

This resource is more of a framework than a template, and it asks the young person to answer three questions so they can craft their own statement:

• Outline your perfect day with unlimited resources. Describe as much as you can about your passions and interests.
• Imagine you’re happily surrounded by your family at the age of 150. What would you tell them about the most important things in life?
• Pretend it’s a significant milestone at a later stage in life; maybe you’ve turned 30, 50, or 80. The press asks you to summarize your accomplishments and think about what you’d hope your colleagues, peers, and family to say when discussing you. How would you like to have made a difference in their lives?

The next part is for the writer to review the answers to these questions. The idea is that these should give them valuable help to answer the questions above. That is, as noted above: who they are, what they represent, what they want to accomplish, and why .

This PDF from Humboldt State University is the outline for the exercise in its full form.

So how is self-reliance measured? One assessment sometimes used by therapists and teachers is called the Self-Reliance Scale.

The Self-Reliance Scale (SRS) is one measure in the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC-3) (Sandoval & Echandia, 1994). The BASC-3 itself is a tool for assessing whether school-age children of 3 to 18 years old may require extra support for their emotional and behavioral functioning (Pearson Clinical, 2019).

Utilized in both clinical and educational contexts, the BASC is sometimes administered by educators, and sometimes by parents. If you have come across this assessment before, you’ll know that it contains several scales, one of which is used to measure Self-Reliance.

Specific self-reliance items taken directly from the BASC-3 include the following (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2015: 19):

• I am someone you can rely on;
• I can solve difficult problems by myself;
• If I have a problem, I can usually work it out;
• Others ask me to help them;
• I am dependable;
• My friends come to me for help;
• I am good at making decisions; and
• I am reliable.

Youths taking the BASC-3 usually give a self-report answer on either a Likert scale or they can give a True-False answer. Usually, the forms take only a few minutes to administer in total. You can find the sample report by Pearson Clinical, which was put together by Dr. Kamphaus and the late Dr. Reynolds.

Want to know more about Transcendentalism and how it’s linked to self-reliance?

What is Transcendentalism?

The Transcendentalism movement is generally acknowledged as having begun around 1820-1836 in New England.

Not to be equated with Transcendental Meditation, which is a practice, Transcendentalism is described by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Goodman, 2003) as:

“an American literary, political, and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century, centered around Ralph Waldo Emerson”

Several key ideas underpin this movement, with one of the original sense that individual purity can be ‘corrupted’ by society; that institutions thus (negatively) impact on how the individual mentally ‘forms’ their perspectives and experience of the world around them (Grusin, 1991; Goodman, 2003).

This latter concept may be familiar if you’ve read the work(s) of Immanuel Kant, who famously distinguished between ‘perception’ and ‘intuition’ (Kant, 1949).

To be uncorrupted, therefore, Transcendentalism advocates individualism. And this links back to positive psychology in, frankly, quite a beautiful way. Put simply, we can choose to ignore, invalidate, or dismiss the (sometimes negative, some would argue false) information we perceive from society. This gives us the power, academics argue, to transform ourselves, as well as the world in which we live (Díaz & González, 2012).

Transcendentalism in Self-Reliance

Emerson believed that societal pressures—institutions and others—were responsible for a lot of conformist behavior. In fairly rough terms, his view was that children alone don’t succumb to these pressures. In fact, he describes the “nonchalant boy” as the only kind of self-reliant individual who offers “independent, genuine verdict” (McClelland, 2011).

The idea that one can rely on his or her own judgment, choices, and be free from these societal influences is to be self-reliant. As such, according to Transcendentalism and Emerson, it’s better to trust yourself. In some cases, if not most or all cases, to trust yourself over and above what others believe.

As well as the original text in audio format, here are some lovely videos that explain the concept and its benefits.

1. Self-Reliance By Ralph Waldo Emerson | Animated Book Summary

This video is a review of Emerson’s original essay in audiobook format, plus some explainers. Please note, there’s a swear word thrown in.

Nonetheless, it’s nicely animated, and provides a concise overview of some key concepts, four of which are:

• Taking responsibility (which comes along with accountability);
• Being informed about the environment you’re in;
• Knowing your direction and the steps required to reach your goal; and
• Making autonomous decisions.

2. Self Reliance, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essay Audiobook, Classic Literature

Here’s the actual essay itself, which is in the public domain. You can listen to the whole thing in its entirety, which lasts a little over an hour.

3. Emotional Dependency vs. Self-Reliance

This is another lovely animation that talks about looking within yourself and reducing your reliance on others. The key takeaways are that awareness is a first step, and that self-reliance can impart a sense of emotional freedom.

4. PNTV: Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Brian Johnson makes video podcasts about personal growth books on his channel Philosophers Notes TV. In this clip, he takes five key concepts of self-reliance and discusses them in a pretty nice mini-talk.

It’s interesting to see how different people interpret Emerson’s original essay in diverse ways, yet the core principles are pretty clear.

5. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Life

It’s hard not to learn all about self-reliance and not find out more about what shaped the person behind the concept. This is a very short 2-minute video that features some quotes from Emerson, along with biographical facts about the man’s life.

If videos aren’t your thing, you may appreciate some quotes on self-reliance. Hopefully, there will be something you find useful, inspirational, or help you develop your own self-reliance.

Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.

Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

Freedom (n.): To ask nothing. To expect nothing. To depend on nothing.

Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead

Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go.

Moral autonomy appears when the mind regards as necessary an ideal that is independent of all external pressures.

Jean Piaget

Remember, you and you alone are responsible for maintaining your energy. Give up blaming, complaining and excuse making, and keep taking action in the direction of your goals – however mundane or lofty they may be.

Jack Canfield

There is no dependence that can be sure but a dependence upon one’s self.

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 solitude.

You don’t have to worry about burning bridges if you’re building your own.

Kerry Wagner

The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.

The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.

Friedrich Nietzche

Tradition: a cage for the free spirit.

Marty Rubin

You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.

Abraham Lincoln

Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world.

Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.

Margaret Mead

Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.

Christopher Robin

Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves.

Marie Curie

Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth.

Albert Einstein

The best lightning rod for your protection is your own spine.

Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.

Henry David Thoreau, Walden

To find yourself, think for yourself.

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Today we’ve thought about what it means to be self-reliant. As well as having a look at the concept in positive psychology, we’ve touched a bit on how Ralph Waldo Emerson contributed so much to the concept through his work.

If you’ve wondered why the idea is so important, hopefully, you’ll find some of what we’ve considered to be of use—the ideas of independent thought and using your own beliefs to guide you.

You can develop self-reliance by learning to be yourself, practicing making your own judgments, and holding your own values. As you use these to guide you towards your goals, remember not to underestimate the power of your own intuition. Don’t be afraid to be yourself.

Hopefully, some of our exercises have been helpful and guided you towards further reading. It’s a fascinating topic!

As always, we’d more than love to hear any of your thoughts or comments. Feel free to share them just below!

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Self Compassion Exercises for free .

• Baumeister, R. F. (1987). How the self became a problem: A psychological review of historical research. Journal of personality and social psychology, 52 (1), 163-176.
• Díaz, E. C., & González, J. C. S. (2012). The roots of positive psychology. Papeles del psicólogo, 33 (3), 172-182.
• Emerson, E. W. (2013). The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Vol. 11). Read Books Ltd.
• Festinger, L. (1957). A Theory of cognitive dissonance . Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
• Festinger, L. (1959). Some attitudinal consequences of forced decisions. Acta Psychologica, 15 , 389-390.
• Goodman, R. (2003). Transcendentalism . Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/transcendentalism/.
• Grusin, R. A. (1991). Transcendentalist hermeneutics: institutional authority and the higher criticism of the Bible. Duke University Press.
• Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP). (2019). Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882). Retrieved from https://www.iep.utm.edu/emerson/
• Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (1990). A theory of goal setting & task performance . Prentice-Hall, Inc.
• Kant, I. (1949). Critique of practical reason, and other writings in moral philosophy.
• Kloppers, M. (2019). Steps to Self-Reliance . Retrieved from https://www.mentalhelp.net/blogs/steps-to-self-reliance/.
• McClelland, M. (2011). Emerson and the voice of the child . PhD Thesis, Washington University in St Louis. Retrieved from https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1613&context=etd.
• NICurriculum.org. (n.d.). Northern Ireland Curriculum: Getting to Know Me. Retrieved from https://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/docs/key_stages_1_and_2/areas_of_learning/pdmu/livinglearningtogether/year3/yr3_unit1.pdf
• NIDirect.gov.uk. (2019). How play helps children’s development . Retrieved from https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/how-play-helps-childrens-development.
• Pearson Clinical. (2019). Identify and manage behavioral and emotional strengths and weaknesses with the BASC™-3. Retrieved from https://www.pearsonclinical.com/education/landing/basc-3.html.
• Reynolds, C. R. & Kamphaus, R.W. (2015). Behavior Assessment System for Children, Third Edition (BASC™-3) BASC-3 Self-Report of Personality – College Interpretive Summary Report . Retrieved from https://images.pearsonclinical.com/images/assets/basc-3/BASC-3-Sample-Report-College.pdf.
• Sacks, K. S. (2003). Understanding Emerson: “The American Scholar” and His Struggle for Self-Reliance . Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Sandoval, J., & Echandia, A. (1994). Behavior assessment system for children. Journal of School Psychology, 32 (4), 419-425.
• Taylor, J. (2018). Raise Self-Reliant Children . Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-power-prime/201809/raise-self-reliant-children.
• Tomlin, C.R. (2008). 10 Ways to Create Self-Reliant Learners . Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=503
• Ulstad, K., Owen, G., and Mortenson, R. (2008). The Self-Reliance Achievement Scale (SRAS). Retrieved from https://www.wilder.org/sites/default/files/imports/SRAS_Statewide_3-08.pdf
• Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
• Warburton, G. (2016). Ask More, Tell Less: A Practical Guide for Helping Children Achieve Self-Reliance . Denver, Colorado: Outskirts Press.

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Solid article. It did not leave anything out. Thank you for taking the time, and doing the research to write this very well composed, useful, and informative article.

This article gave me the insight to upskill and reskill myself in Self-reliance.

Thank so much for the article. It is very informative

What are the social cultural factors affecting self-reliance

Thanks for your question. There is a plethora of resources that explore a range of factors affecting self-reliance. I have found a few that might be relevant for you, which can be found here and here . In general, I suggest looking into the middle-range theory of self-reliance to better understand the theoretical framework.

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I got more insights on self reliance and am going to apply it.

very educative article, I have learnt a lot as it has left me with so much insights and wisdom. Thank you.

This is JUST what is needed in support of my ASD/neurodivergent teen battling depression.

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Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self-Reliance Summary (and PDF): Become Your Own Person

In his famous 1841 essay Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson argues that society is in conspiracy against our individuality. To really live good lives, we must have the courage to resist conformity and trust the ‘immense intelligence’ of our own intuition and gut instinct.

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H ow can we best navigate existence? Should we go along with the conventions of society? Should we respect the prevailing traditions and opinions of the day? Or should we relentlessly carve our own paths through life?

Throughout his work, the philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882) made his answers to such questions clear, spearheading the Transcendentalist movement of mid-19th century America.

One of the key hallmarks of the Transcendentalist movement, which notably included Emerson, Margaret Fuller, and Henry David Thoreau (see our reading list of Thoreau’s best books here ), is its celebration of the supremacy — even divinity — of nature.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

Divinity is not locked in a distant heaven, say transcendentalists; it is accessible right here in the company of the natural world.

We are thus at our best not when we conform to voices outside ourselves, but when we follow the voice within — the glimmering insight, the “immense intelligence” of our natural intuition and instincts.

Society on this view is seen as a corrupting force — it takes us away from our natural wisdom.

Emerson offers the beginnings of a path for how we might resist the pressures of society in his famous 1841 essay, Self-Reliance (access the full text of Self-Reliance as a free PDF here ), which features in my reading list of Emerson’s best books , and is a crucial contribution to Transcendentalist thought.

With eloquent, persuasive prose, Emerson fiercely defends the idea that the good life involves defying conformity, taking charge of our own existences, and living in accordance with the wisdom of the natural world.

Let’s take a look at Emerson’s essay in more detail, and see why his critique of conformity and celebration of individuality remains so acclaimed to this day.

Emerson: in works of genius, we find our own buried thoughts

E merson begins Self-Reliance by discussing a funny thing he’s observed about great works of art. Namely: that they often reflect our own buried thoughts and feelings back to us. He writes:

In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty.

Emerson reflects,

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 [even] when the whole cry of voices is on the other side.

In other words, if we identify our own buried thoughts and concerns in works of genius — works we celebrate and implore others to read, watch, or listen to — then why, Emerson questions, do we often lack the conviction to express or act on such thoughts ourselves?

Perhaps, Emerson laments, we push down such thoughts because they go against convention in some way, or because we feel they might embarrass or expose us if spoken aloud.

In short: because we’re worried by the judgment of others…

Thus Emerson sets up his attack on convention and conformity, within which he thinks we all hide ourselves for fear of exposing our true natures.

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Society is in conspiracy against our individuality

W ith its silly status games and hierarchies, society saps our confidence and self-reliance, Emerson thinks: “It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs.”

As we move through life, we must navigate pre-existing power structures and conventions, and stagger through storms of opinion on what we think, say, and do.

Confident, persuasive voices will try to convince us that this is the way; while others will shame us for daring to act differently.

But against this noise we must try to preserve our individuality, Emerson implores:

You will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. 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 solitude.

While outsourcing our opinions to the crowd may be tempting, and might feel like the safer option, in doing so we only falsify ourselves, Emerson warns:

Most men have bound their eyes with one or another handkerchief, and attached themselves to some one of these communities of opinion. This conformity makes them not false in a few particulars, authors of a few lies, but false in all particulars. Their every truth is not quite true.

Of course, society will punish us for trying to steer our own course. “For nonconformity”, Emerson observes, “the world whips you with its displeasure.”

We feel pressure to act according to the expectations of others, because “the eyes of others have no other data for computing our orbit than our past acts, and we are loath to disappoint them.”

But exchanging our true selves for the comfort of the crowd is a cost we should not be willing to bear, Emerson thinks:

Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing.

After all, what but mediocrity awaits us in convention and consistency?

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall.

Really living means growing and adapting, Emerson says — even if by growing and adapting we contradict our former selves, or people’s expectations of us:

Suppose you should contradict yourself; what then? …Speak what you think now in hard words, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict everything you said today.

“What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think,” Emerson declares: “No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature.”

Being self-reliant: the ineffable intelligence of our inner nature

W e might wonder why Emerson places so much stock on our ‘inner natures’ — what does he really mean by maintaining our individuality? How might we do so?

Well, Emerson thinks we are endowed with intuition from nature, an immense ‘gut’ intelligence that trumps the fleeting fashions of opinion in society.

“We lie in the lap of immense intelligence,” he writes,

which makes us receivers of its truth and organs of its activity. When we discern justice, when we discern truth, we do nothing of ourselves, but allow a passage to its beams. If we ask whence this comes, if we seek to pry into the soul that causes, all philosophy is at fault. Its presence or its absence is all we can affirm.

We cannot necessarily articulate it, but most of us will be familiar with having a ‘feeling in our gut’ or ‘call of conscience’. It is this kind of intuition that Emerson thinks we should trust much more than public opinion.

We are part of nature, yet the opinions of society corrupt us away from nature:

Man is timid and apologetic; he is no longer upright; he dares not say ‘I think,’ ‘I am,’ but quotes some saint or sage… These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are… [but] man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround him, stands on tiptoe to foresee the future…

We will not be happy or strong until, like the examples in nature all around us, we live in the present without second-guessing ourselves, “above time”, self-reliant .

Do not imitate: entrust yourself to be your own person

E merson argues our best acts will never come through imitation, for we will never surpass those on whom we model ourselves.

It is only through really, truly, authentically being ourselves that we can live lives of which we can be proud — lives that take us beyond dreary mediocrity. Emerson writes:

Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life’s cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another, you have only an extemporaneous, half possession.

For, indeed, he questions, “where is the master who could have taught Shakspeare?”

Every great person is unique , Emerson thinks. It is through embracing your uniqueness that you shall succeed:

Abide in the simple and noble regions of thy life, obey thy heart, and thou shalt reproduce the Foreworld again.

Make authenticity the foundation of your relationships

B ut what of others? If living only according to our own intuition for how we should live, does Emerson’s philosophy mean selfishness?

No, Emerson says, it means authenticity: seeking to bloom into the best versions of ourselves — not what society claims is best for us; seeking to be human beings of value — not creatures of conformity.

“Live no longer to the expectation of these deceived and deceiving people with whom we converse,” Emerson writes. “Say to them,

O father, O mother, O wife, O brother, O friend, I have lived with you after appearances hitherto. Henceforward I am the truth’s. Be it known unto you that henceforward I obey no law less than the eternal law... I shall endeavor to nourish my parents, to support my family, to be the chaste husband of one wife, — but these relations I must fill after a new and unprecedented way. I appeal from your customs. I must be myself. I cannot break myself any longer for you, or you. If you can love me for what I am, we shall be the happier. If you cannot, I will still seek to deserve that you should. I will not hide my tastes or aversions…

We still strive to be the best we can be, and to respect and honor our loved ones, but through actions and behaviors that we command, not that are commanded for us.

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Indeed, to be the best people we can be, we must no longer bury ourselves under layers of convention; it would be better for all of us if we could be sincere.

We might not all agree with one another, but we can respect each other’s right to disagree in the name of authenticity:

If you are noble, I will love you; if you are not, I will not hurt you and myself by hypocritical attentions. If you are true, but not in the same truth with me, cleave to your companions; I will seek my own. I do this not selfishly, but humbly and truly. It is alike your interest, and mine, and all men’s, however long we have dwelt in lies, to live in truth. Does this sound harsh today? You will soon love what is dictated by your nature as well as mine, and, if we follow the truth, it will bring us out safe at last.

Perhaps such defiance may make us worry about upsetting our loved ones. “Yes,” Emerson concedes,

but I cannot sell my liberty and my power, to save their sensibility. Besides, all persons have their moments of reason, when they look out into the region of absolute truth; then will they justify me, and do the same thing.

People may think that by rejecting convention we are defying all codes of conduct, but such people are misguided; we are now simply living in line with the immense intelligence of nature, not the fleeting opinions of society:

And truly it demands something godlike in him who has cast off the common motives of humanity, and has ventured to trust himself for a taskmaster. High be his heart, faithful his will, clear his sight, that he may in good earnest be doctrine, society, law, to himself, that a simple purpose may be to him as strong as iron necessity is to others!

Living according to your own authority

T hough we may begin our lives living according to the conventions of the day or the expectations of others, there comes a time where the scales fall from our eyes and we must become ourselves. As Emerson puts it:

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.

So, Emerson commands: do not outsource your share of life to the opinions of others, nor to fortune or luck. Take charge of your own existence, and live according to your own authority right now:

A political victory, a rise of rents, the recovery of your sick, or the return of your absent friend, or some other favorable event, raises your spirits, and you think good days are preparing for you. Do not believe it. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.

Explore Emerson’s philosophy of self-reliance further

W hat do you make of Emerson’s analysis? Do you value self-reliance over conformity? Do you agree that our intuition is often wiser than public opinion? Or is there an extent to which the ‘call’ of conscience we hear internally is actually the voice of society inside us?

If you’d like to explore Emerson’s view further, you can read his Self-Reliance essay in full in this free PDF (if you have a spare 30-40 minutes, I highly recommend doing so — it’s a fantastic read. Emerson offers powerful critiques of different aspects of society — including the objects of education, travel, and the accumulation of wealth — and treats us to some beautiful natural imagery in his illustration of how we might live happier, more authentic lives.)

You might also be interested in these related reads which discuss the importance of self-reliance for living well:

• The Porcupine’s Dilemma: Schopenhauer’s Wistful Parable on Human Connection
• Übermensch Explained: the Meaning of Nietzsche’s ‘Superman’
• Albert Camus on Coping with Life's Absurdity
• Kierkegaard On Finding the Meaning of Life
• Ralph Waldo Emerson: The Best 5 Books to Read
• Henry David Thoreau: The Best 5 Books to Read

Finally, if you enjoy reflecting on these kinds of themes, you might like my free Sunday email, in which I distill one philosophical idea per week, and invite you to share your view. If you’re interested, you can sign up for free below (no spam, unsubscribe any time):

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• Annotated Full Text
• Literary Period: Transcendentalism
• Publication Date: 1841
• Flesch-Kincaid Level: 9
• Approx. Reading Time: 52 minutes
• Self-Reliance

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Self-Reliance” embodies some of the most prominent themes of the transcendentalist movement in the 19th century. First published in 1841, “Self-Reliance” advocates for individualism and encourages readers to trust and follow their own instincts and intuition rather than blindly adhere to the will of others. The writing is elegant and poetic; its concepts timeless and words pure. Emerson draws supporting examples from a range of major historical figures, from Aristotle to Napoleon Bonaparte, to show how their success and genius came from originality and innovation, instead of conformity. With its most early conception coming shortly after the death of his wife, “Self-Reliance” manifests feelings of hope and optimism that could seldom be expected at a time of such despair. Emerson doesn’t withhold from letting his readers know the true value they have to offer the world, asserting that self-reliance serves as a beginning point for a more efficient, productive society.

Table of Contents

• Alliteration
• Historical Context
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Self-Reliance

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• The Literature Network - Self-Reliance

Self-Reliance , essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson , published in the first volume of his collected Essays (1841). Developed from his journals and from a series of lectures he gave in the winter of 1836–37, it exhorts the reader to consistently obey “the aboriginal self,” or inner law, regardless of institutional rules, popular opinion, tradition, or other social regulators. Emerson’s doctrine of self-sufficiency and self-reliance arose naturally from his view that the individual need only look inward for the spiritual guidance that was previously the province of the established churches.

The Importance of Self-Reliance

5 tips for becoming more resilient.

Posted January 16, 2012

In 1939, at the beginning of WWII, the British Government printed over 2-million posters that were created to go up within 24-hours of the outbreak of war. The objective of the posters was to keep morale of the British people high in the event of a German invasion. The posters were masterminded by civil servants, but delivered as a message from the King. The maxim of each poster emphasized the responsibility of each British citizen as a member of the British collective.

Two of the slogans used in this campaign were: " Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution Will Bring Us Victory " and " Keep Calm and Carry On ." The mottos of these posters tap into the zeitgeist of the current economic times and are experiencing a resurgence of popularity, which has lead to a merchandizing bonanza. You've probably seen one of these maxims on a mug, T-shirt, screensaver... or one of the parodies that say things like " Now Panic and Freak Out " in the same font and layout.

Things are so bad for so many people right now, that you have to have a sense of humor at a certain point or you really might lose it. How can we as a nation keep our individual and collective morale high in such desperate times? I think the key lies in a push for self-reliance , a philosophy made famous in an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1841. In this entry I will share 5-tips that can help you become more resilient and help you create self-reliance.

This past weekend I watched a panel discussion called " Reawakening America: From Poverty to Prosperity " hosted by Tavis Smiley that focused on what we can do individually and collectively to deal with this crisis. The statistics of poverty and economic inequality are staggering. With so many talented people out of work and the 'middle-class' evaporating rapidly, there is a palpable-and contagious-sense of hopelessness in the air. How can we turn this around? The panel didn't offer a specific agenda, but as someone who focuses on the power of physical activity to transform lives, I believe that motivating ourselves and others to be active and healthy will create a nationwide energy based in strength, hope and confidence , not fear , hate and resentment.

As a panelist on the Reawakening America broadcast, Suze Orman spoke about her belief that every individual has the power to change his or her attitudes and behavior and can create a chain reaction of change. Your daily attitude and behavior impacts everyone that you come in contact with throughout the day and you have the power to start a domino-effect from the bottom up that could have national ramifications. We've seen it happen in the Arab Spring and it can happen here too. It matters what you say, it matters what you do! So, as Spike Lee said, " Do the Right Thing ."

Below are 5 tips that are rooted in the philosophy of The Athlete's Way to make you more resilient and help create more self-reliance.

1. Stay Healthy: When you feel tired, sick or depressed everyday tasks become monumental. If you dedicate yourself to staying healthy you will have more energy, strength and stamina--which are key to self-reliance. By eating a healthier diet , exercising, connecting face-to-face with other people, reducing stress and getting enough sleep you create a life-long recipe for resilience . The principles of wellness are basic and will never change. All you have to do is commit to making small changes in your daily routine. These small lifestyle changes will lead to long-term and permanent improvements in your mental, physical and emotional well-being.

Behind The Athlete's Way approach to motivating teens and pre-teens to take better care of themselves is an understanding that in order to want to take care of yourself you have to begin with a foundation of self-respect, self-love and hope for your future. As a gay teenager , I was very self-destructive which came from a place of self-hate and deep-rooted cynicism and anger at the world around me. Abusing my body was a slow form of suicide , which it is for anyone who neglects to take care of him or herself. I really didn't want to be around to deal with more pain, suffering and bullying for eternity. Running helped turn my life around by making me more optimistic , self-reliant and resilient. I think that any type of regular activity can do this and through exercise we all have the power to take our lives to a higher ground.

2. Daily Physical Activity : Our bodies are designed to work hard physically and are short-circuiting in a sedentary digital age. Regular physical activity is something humans must do in order to maintain a sound mind in a sound body and be self-reliant. Luckily, it is something that is designed to make you feel good. Remember that Sweat=Bliss. The more you move your body, the more energy you will have to seize the day. On the flip side, the more sedentary you are the more your life force gets sucked into a black hole where it goes to waste. If you do not move your body regularly, your constitution will deteriorate and you will slowly become more and more fragile and dependent on others for your survival, which is the opposite of self-reliance.

A recent article in AARP magazine said that 'sitting' is the 'new smoking ' because inactivity has become an epidemic that is creating health costs which are as high-or higher-than those from tobacco use. Think like a Spartan youth. Embrace the 'pinch of hunger' and start believing that your daily physical activity keeps you brave and sturdy in the face of adversity, and it will! Sometimes you have to use your imagination to cope with truly dire situations.

3. Fortify Mental Toughness: A daily commitment to exercise makes you mentally tough. The act of deciding that you are going to begin and finish a workout everyday fortifies a mindset and habit of perseverance that you can apply to any challenge you face. A seize-the-day attitude is fortified by pushing yourself physically and mentally through an athletic challenge-no matter how big or small it is. You don't have to be running a 10K to feel these effects.

I hate to reference the most over quoted motivational quotation of all time...but what Nietzsche said is so true that I have to say it again: "That which does not destroy me makes me stronger." You can make the concept of almost being 'destroyed' into a game when you're working out. Pushing against your limits in athletics is a fantastic way to flex your ability to persevere through a sufferfes t-- "survive " it-- and come out of the experience feeling stronger.

Push yourself harder at the gym. Crank up the intensity and pretend that you are on a quixotic journey--even if you are just on a spin bike or elliptical trainer. Doing this will fortify your mental toughness and create a 'tool-box' of coping mechanisms you can use with other challenges you face in the workplace or job hunt.

When I woke up yesterday it was windy, gray and snowing. The reading on the thermometer was 7° F. I really did not feel like leaving the cozy comfort of my bed to face the brutal headwinds and bone chilling temperatures to go for a long run, which I like to do every morning. But I knew that the process of lacing up my sneakers, bundling up and heading out to complete my daily run would fortify my 'pull yourself up by your bootstraps' mindset. Like everybody else, I have to be vigilant about maintaining a tenacious spirit in order to stay upbeat and positive and to keep moving forward in these very competitive and cutthroat times.

Being intimidated by bad weather or tough conditions and then bagging a workout can make you feel like a wimp; whereas if you get out there and push through it you end up feeling much stronger and resilient. Remember this the next time you want to bail on a workout because of bad weather. That said, there's always the option of working out indoors, which is equally beneficial.

4. Live Below Your Means: As my grandmother said, "You can't spend money and have it too." Suze Orman's main message for living what she calls the 'New American Dream' is to Live Below Your Means and to try to raise you FICO score without using credit cards. I think it's terrific advice. As Thoreau famously said: "We make ourselves rich by making our wants few." This is a simple trick you can use to reframe your economic reality or attitude towards consumerism . You have the power to turn feeling like you have 'less-than' into a system of belief that you are unfettered and free. There is liberty in living a simple life. And we all know that money doesn't buy happiness . Again, the reality of poverty and hunger goes well beyond simply shifting your 'explanatory style.' I do not intend to be a Pollyanna or play down the brutality of poverty.

I made the decision to purposely lead a simpler, less materialistic life a few years ago and it is the best thing I ever did. Just before the global financial crisis of 2008 I had a gut instinct that I wanted to get out of Manhattan. The east village, where I had lived for over two decades, had become really depressing to me. I felt trapped in an environment that was no longer gritty in a way that I found interesting. Everything had become either really bourgeois on the one-hand or really poverty stricken on the other, and I wanted out. There was nothing sexy about being a 'starving artist' or in my case 'starving athlete' in Manhattan anymore.

So, I called the landlord of my rent-stabilized apartment and said that I wanted to break the lease which I had had since the 1980s. I told the woman on the phone that I was going to take what I call a 'Things I lost in the Fire' approach to moving out. I just wanted to go in quickly and grab things that I really loved and leave everything else behind.

I told her that I was living in Provincetown for the summer and was going to take the bus down to NY with a duffle bag and a milk crate. I would only carry out with me what I could fit in the duffle back and the milk crate. We both laughed about the whole concept and had a fun conversation. When we met in person on 'moving day' we really clicked. I asked her to please go over to my apartment with her friends and family and take anything they wanted...I left behind thousands and thousands of dollars of 'stuff' but I have no regrets. It was the most liberating thing I've ever done.

5. Close Knit Human Bonds : The key to self-reliance isn't just about being healthy and strong-or having financial security-it is also about maintaining close-knit human bonds. Early in my athletic career I thought I was completely self-reliant and didn't need anyone else to help me achieve my dreams . I was wrong. Once I got into ultra-endurance racing-where the athlete relies on a support crew to reach the finish line-I learned a valuable life lesson about how much we need to stick together. Maintaining close-knit relationships takes effort, but it is probably the most important foundation to creating true self-reliance.

As individuals and a nation we are only as strong as our weakest link. We need to come together and support each other. All ships rise in a rising tide. You can change the tides by setting an example of self-reliance and optimism that will rub off on your friends and family, and your neighbors and so on, and so on.... Make it happen by starting today!

Christopher Bergland is a retired ultra-endurance athlete turned science writer, public health advocate, and promoter of cerebellum ("little brain") optimization.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Ralph Waldo Emerson — Ralph Waldo Emersons Self Reliance Analysis

Ralph Waldo Emersons Self Reliance Analysis

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Published: Mar 13, 2024

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Emerson's assertion of self-reliance, exploration of conformity and individualism, emphasis on self-trust and individualism, implications for contemporary society, personal development and fulfillment.

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• Self-Reliance

Originally published in Ralph Waldo Emerson's Essays, First Series  (1841), "Self-Reliance" was a uniquely American contribution to ethical thought. While urging us all to follow our inner voice, Emerson warns against the dangers of conformism and the desire for consistency before proposing major changes in American culture and society if self-reliance is to work. Greatly influential but often misunderstood, many of its most memorable lines are taken out of the larger context of Emerson's thought. 

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What's the Main Point of 'Self-Reliance'?

The main point of 'Self-Reliance' can be stated in just two words: "Trust thyself." 2 Emerson's goal in this essay is to help readers overcome conformity and fear so that they have the confidence to listen to their inner voice.

'Self-Reliance' helped to develop one of the key Transcendentalist ideas: the importance of individual choice and the moral responsibility of the individual. Along with the importance of the natural world, this is one of the most important themes in Transcendentalist thought. 'Self-Reliance' is not simply a piece of advice or self-help, but a work of philosophy that ties in with Emerson's broader ideas about God, nature, humanity, and the self.

Transcendentalism was an early nineteenth-century intellectual movement that emphasized the importance of both the natural world and of individual expression and choice.

A summary of 'Self-Reliance'

Reflecting on the accomplishments of great artists, writers, philosophers, and prophets, Emerson notes that all of them "set at naught books and traditions, and spoke not what men but what they thought." 2 We all, Emerson suggests, have comparable flashes of brilliant insight, but unlike geniuses, we ignore or suppress them. We all recognize this fact at some point in our lives:

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. 2

To envy a great accomplishment is to fail to recognize that you, too, had the potential to do it, and to imitate someone else is to silence your own original self. It is no coincidence that we all arrive at this conviction. Emerson argues elsewhere that humanity, God, and nature are all part of the same essential unity (see the explanations on Nature (1836) and Ralph Waldo Emerson for more details).

God speaks through us, and these flashes of insight happen because our "eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify to that particular ray." 2 Why, then, do we ignore the divine voice within us? Emerson blames two forces that silence our inner voice: conformity and consistency.

Conformity is when we ignore our insights because they contradict commonly held beliefs and opinions. Emerson notes that tradition and common opinions often mask bad behavior such as racism and greed, so they cannot be criteria for goodness on their own.

Only we ourselves, not society or institutions, can judge what is good or bad: "No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature," Emerson triumphantly states. 2 We must learn to ignore tradition and popular opinion when they contradict what we know in our hearts to be true.

Consistency creates the fear that what we say today may contradict something that we have said or done in the past. Emerson dismisses this out of hand, famously quipping that

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. 2

Consistency and the desire to be understood confine us to smallness and pettiness. Great actions require inconsistency, which, seen from the perspective of an entire human lifetime, will seem like no more than the tacking of a sailboat—the back and forth zigzag ultimately heading in the right direction.

A key distinction that Emerson makes is between intuition and tuition . Intuition is "the essence of genius, the essence of virtue, and the essence of life," and is synonymous with instinct. It comes from within us, and so it is "primary." Tuition is anything we are taught by others. 2

It is not only the fear of being judged as weird or inconsistent that holds us back, but also an undue reverence for the past, for books, and for authority figures. However, the inspiration for those great books of the past and the inspiration that we feel within us is the same, and the elevation of a ruler or a king is really just an acknowledgement of the capacity of any human being to make their own laws. Our own voices have just as much of a right to be heard as their voices.

There is, however, a place for books and for people of superior virtue. We can benefit from reading history if we see it as a kind of story or fable of what preceded our own "being and becoming." 2 We should also recognize that there is a kind of hierarchy of virtue or "souls," and that "Who has more soul than I, masters me...Round him I must revolve by the gravitation of spirits; who has less, I rule with equal facility." 2 Emerson thinks of this as a relationship of recognition and respect rather than of domination, obedience, or faith.

Emerson also admits that listening to our selves is not necessarily the only moral criterion that we need to think about. We may also need to consider our obligations to "father, mother, cousin, neighbor, town, cat, and dog," but our ultimate duty is to choose our own obligations. 2 If we feel pressure to enter a certain profession or marry a certain person because society or our family demands this of us, we may be simply conforming and ignoring our intuition.

Note that Self-Reliance is not necessarily selfish or self-centered. Emerson thinks we still have obligations to our pets, friends, family, and country. It is up to us to figure out whether those obligations are real.

Emerson gives an example of what a self-reliant person might actually look like: "A sturdy lad from New Hampshire or Vermont" who dabbles in everything, from teaching to farming to politics to real estate, but has no fixed career or profession and who "always, like a cat, falls on his feet." 2

He contrasts such a person with graduates of elite colleges who feel like failures when they're not immediately successful, or entrepreneurs who consider themselves ruined after their first business venture fails. The sturdy lad clearly comes off favorably in this comparison, and is, according to Emerson, "worth a hundred of these city dolls." 2

Emerson concludes the essay by noting four changes that must happen if self-reliance is to prevail. First, religion must change. Religion as it is taught and practiced insists that human beings and God are separate things. As a result of this, we not only undervalue ourselves, but we pray to God in a manner that either resembles begging or causes us to focus on our regrets, both of which are unhealthy.

Prayer, according to Emerson, ought to be "the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view." 2 Religion also encourages us to simply follow the creeds and beliefs of others, rather than to try to take something useful from them and think for ourselves.

Our tendency to imitate in art and culture is the next major change that will need to happen. We see this in painting, architecture, fashion, and literature which, especially in Emerson's day, was derivative of foreign models and generally focused on the great accomplishments of the past.

However, we all have something new and original to contribute, and if the great masters of the past had not recognized this fact and dared to be original, we would not have their works in the first place. Emerson summarizes his advice in a single, pithy sentence:

Insist on yourself; never imitate. 2

In the same vein, Emerson singles out the desire to travel as being particularly harmful to self-reliance. Traveling, Emerson thinks, is a vain attempt to escape from our problems or amuse ourselves. Our problem is with ourselves, not our location, and traveling is simply an attempt to "travel away from [our] selves" and deny this fact. 2 The person who visits Greece or Italy hoping to be inspired by their ancient historical sites "carries ruins to ruins." 2 Our real goal should be to help make the place where we already find ourselves worth traveling to.

Emerson then singles out our over-reliance on technology as being in need of change. Though Emerson's examples are based on the technology of his time, the points he makes are still applicable in our day—in some cases, even more so than to his. In Emerson, technological advancement entails the loss of some skill or ability: riding in cars, our ability to walk long distances decreases; telling time by clocks, we forget how to tell the time by the position of the sun; writing everything down, our memory atrophies, and so forth.

Great feats of warfare, exploration, and science have been accomplished both with and without the aid of advanced technology. Technological change, then, brings harm as well as good, and so represents no real advancement: "The arts and inventions of each period are only its costumes, and do not invigorate men. The harm of improved machinery may compensate its good." 2 We should focus on developing ourselves morally, spiritually, and culturally rather than on engineering the best machines.

For Emerson, Self-Reliance does not mean greed or selfishness. Too much focus on gadgets, things, or money can actually prevent us from understanding and following our intuition.

Finally, our relation to property must change. We have come to identify ourselves with the things that we own, and to judge other people "by what each has, and not by what each is." 2 We then come to consider governments, "religious, learned, and civil institutions" primarily as means of protecting our property. 2 Property often comes to us by chance, such as good luck, inheritance, or even crime, and we can lose it all just as accidentally (in, e.g. a natural disaster, war, or economic crisis).

The things we own cannot, then, really be what we are, and this confusion about our selves is an obstacle to self-reliance. Emerson calls on us to focus on our "permanent and living property" which "perpetually renews itself" wherever we are and no matter what happens (short of our death). "Nothing" he advises in the essay's concluding sentences, "can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles." 2

Themes in 'Self-Reliance'

Individualism : It is a person's inner voice, intuition, or flash of insight, that is responsible for all great acts of courage, virtue, and genius. Trusting this inner voice is what Emerson means by Self-Reliance. Intuition is God speaking through us, and since God is equally a part of us all, we are all equally capable of great things. All we need to do is trust our intuition.

• Non-Conformity: Self-Reliance requires us to be non-conformists . The opinions of family, friends, colleagues, and teachers, will often contradict our intuition, and we need to stand firm in our convictions, regardless of what others think.
• Consistency and Understandability: Our intuition does not necessarily follow a logical path, and may require us to contradict things we have said or done in the past. This, according to Emerson, is something we simply need to accept if we are to be Self-Reliant. While a person may not always appear to act consistently or understandably, their decisions will eventually make sense in the context of their entire lives.
• Greatness : Self-Reliance is a precondition for all acts of greatness, whether they are political, military, literary, artistic, or on the scale of an ordinary human life.
• Self-Cultivation : In order to make sure that we're really capable of listening to our intuition, we need to develop ourselves spiritually and intellectually. This involves reducing our dependence on the things that we own, and recognizing when things that we have learned have too great an influence on us.

The Importance of 'Self-Reliance'

Written at a point in American history when the nation was still trying to find its own identity, 'Self-Reliance' called on the members of that fledgling nation to stop imitating the intellectual, religious, and artistic models they found in British or European culture and to dare to be original. The ideas expressed in 'Self-Reliance' have a clear resonance with the ideals of independence, individualism, and exceptionalism that would become defining characteristics of American culture, partly thanks to Emerson's writing.

While the impact of the idea of 'Self-Reliance' persists to our own day, its metaphysical and theological underpinnings have been largely forgotten. For many, Self-Reliance has simply become a synonym for greed and selfishness. Author Benjamin Anastas, for example, after characterizing 'Self-Reliance' as "high-flown pap," goes on to blame it for corporate greed, multi-level marketing schemes, and political grandstanding. While Anastas acknowledges some of the finer ethical and metaphysical points of 'Self-Reliance', he ultimately thinks that "the larger problem with the essay, and its more lasting legacy as a cornerstone of the American identity, has been Emerson's tacit endorsement of a radically self-centered worldview." 1

Taken independently of Emerson's belief in metaphysical unity, of a divine voice that can speak through every person, of the need to cultivate the self spiritually and intellectually, to account for our duties to our families and pets, to ease our obsession with greed and materialism, and to reform our education and religion, the call to be self-reliant may indeed sound egotistical and selfish. Unfortunately, Emerson's call to be independent, original, and if need be inconsistent has proven to be a louder one than his call to reform our selves and our society.

Self-Reliance - Key takeaways

• 'Self-Reliance' is one of Ralph Waldo Emerson's most influential essays. It was first published in his Essays, First Series in 1841.
• By 'Self-Reliance', Emerson means learning to trust ourselves and listen to our inner voice, which he defines as 'intuition'.
• Conformity to social expectations is the biggest obstacle to self-reliance. We must be prepared to go against the grain of popular opinion in order to follow our intuition.
• The desire to be consistent is another obstacle to self-reliance. We must be just as ready to contradict our past selves in order to follow our intuition.
• For the members of a society to be truly self-reliant, reform is needed in education, religion, and culture. People need to be taught when to think for themselves, and not to rely too much on material possessions, technology, or property.

1. Anastas, Benjamin. "The Foul Reign of Emerson's Self-Reliance." The New York Times . (2011).

2. Baym, N. (General Editor). The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Volume B 1820-1865. Norton, (2007).

Flashcards in Self-Reliance 12

What is the best summary of Self-Reliance?

Trust yourself.

According to Emerson, what separates an average person from a great one?

Belief in their inner voice.

What are the two greatest obstacles to Self-Reliance?

Conformity and Consistency

Finish the quotation: 

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds

adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.

What example of a Self-Reliant person does Emerson give?

A sturdy lad from Vermont

What does Emerson say about our duties to other people?

We need to consider them in relation to our intuition.

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Frequently Asked Questions about Self-Reliance

What is self reliance?

Self-Reliance is the ability to listen to your inner voice or intuition instead of conforming to society's opinion.

How does Emerson define self reliance?

Emerson defines Self-Reliance as an ability to listen to your inner voice or intuition without being afraid of what others may think about you. Emerson thinks this is the only way to do anything great.

What are the main points of Self-Reliance?

The main points of Self-Reliance are:

• We should all listen to our inner voice or intuition.
• God speaks to all of us through this inner voice, so we can only do anything great by paying attention to it.
• Conformity and the feeling that we need to be consistent all the time often get in the way of Self-Reliance.
• We need to reform our religion, culture, and education, as well as check our greed and materialism for Self-Reliance to work.

What does the first paragraph of 'Self-Reliance' mean?

In the first paragraph of Self-Reliance, Emerson describes "a gleam of light" that we all experience, but that only geniuses dare to believe in the truth of. We, too, are all capable of great things, if only we could believe in the truth of that gleam of light.

Why is Self-Reliance important according to Emerson?

According to Emerson, Self-Reliance is one of the most important human virtues. It is only through Self-Reliance that we can do anything great or original. This is true no matter what our profession or station in life.

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Self-Reliance

Ralph waldo emerson, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self-Reliance . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Self-Reliance: Introduction

Self-reliance: plot summary, self-reliance: detailed summary & analysis, self-reliance: themes, self-reliance: quotes, self-reliance: characters, self-reliance: terms, self-reliance: symbols, self-reliance: quizzes, self-reliance: theme wheel, brief biography of ralph waldo emerson.

Historical Context of Self-Reliance

Other books related to self-reliance.

• Full Title: “Self-Reliance”
• When Written: 1832 to 1841
• Where Written: Concord and Boston, Massachusetts
• When Published: 1841
• Literary Period: American Transcendentalism, American Romanticism
• Genre: Essay, philosophical text
• Antagonist: Conformity
• Point of View: Multiple points of view, including first-person, second-person, and third-person

Extra Credit for Self-Reliance

Baby Genius. At 14, Emerson was the youngest member of his class at Harvard.

The Sage of Concord. Emerson’s outsize influence on nineteenth century American thought and culture made his hometown of Concord, Massachusetts (which was already the site of an important American Revolution battle and home to many important writers) even more famous. He was known as “the Sage of Concord,” and his home there is a National Historic Landmark.

Self Reliance and Other Essays

By ralph emerson, self reliance and other essays summary and analysis of self-reliance.

Self-Reliance  was first published in 1841 in his collection,  Essays: First Series . However, scholars argue the underlying philosophy of his essay emerged in a sermon given in September 1830 - a month after his first marriage to Ellen (who died the following year of tuberculosis) - and in lectures on the philosophy of history given at Boston's Masonic Temple from 1836 to 1837.

The essay, for which Emerson is perhaps the most well known, contains the most thorough statement of Emerson’s emphasis on the need for individuals to avoid conformity and false consistency, and instead follow their own instincts and ideas. The essay illustrates Emerson's finesse for synthesizing and translating classical philosophy (e.g., self-rule in Stoicism, the  Bildung  of Goethe, and the revolution of Kant) into accessible language, and for demonstrating its relevance to everyday life.

While Emerson does not formally do so, scholars conventionally organize  Self-Reliance  into three sections: the value of and barriers to self-reliance (paragraph 1-17), self-reliance and the individual (paragraph 18-32), and self-reliance and society (paragraph 33-50).

The Value of and Barriers to Self-Reliance (paragraph 1-17)

Emerson opens his essay with the assertion, "To believe in your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, - that is genius." His statement captures the essence of what he means by "self-reliance," namely the reliance upon one's own thoughts and ideas. He argues individuals, like Moses, Plato, and Milton, are held in the highest regard because they spoke what they thought. They did not rely on the words of others, books, or tradition. Unfortunately, few people today do so; instead, "he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his."

If we do not listen to our own mind, someone else will say what we think and feel, and “we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another.” Emerson thus famously counsels his reader to "Trust thyself." In other words, to accept one's destiny, "the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events." If such advice seems easier said than done, Emerson prompts his reader to recall the boldness of youth.

Their mind being whole, their eye is as yet unconquered, and when we look in their faces we are disconcerted. Infancy conforms to nobody; all conform to it; so that one babe commonly makes four or five out of the adults who prattle and play to it. So God has armed youth and puberty and manhood no less with its own piquancy and charm, and made it enviable and gracious and its claims not be put by, if it will stand by itself.

The difficulty of trusting our own mind lies in the conspiracy of society against the individual, for society valorizes conformity. As a youth, we act with independence and irresponsibility, and issue verdicts based on our genuine thought. We are unencumbered by thoughts about consequences or interests. However, as we grow older, society teaches us to curb our thoughts and actions, seek the approval of others, and concern ourselves with names, reputations, and customs. What some would call "maturity," Emerson would call "conformity."

To be a self-reliant individual then, one must return to the neutrality of youth, and be a nonconformist. For a nonconformist, "No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution; the only wrong what is against it.” Emerson does not advocate nonconformity for the sake of rebellion per se, but rather so the world may know you for who are, and so you may focus your time and efforts on reinforcing your character in your own terms.

However, the valorization of conformity by society is not the only barrier to self-reliance. According to Emerson, another barrier is the fear for our own consistency: "a reverence for our past act or word because the eyes of others have no other data for computing our orbit than our past acts, and we are loth to disappoint them.” Rather than act with a false consistency to a past memory, we must always live in the present. We must become, rather than simply be. Emerson famously argues, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." While acting without regard to consistency may lead to us being misunderstood, the self-reliant individual would be in good company. "Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood."

Self-Reliance and the Individual (paragraph 18-32)

In this section, Emerson expounds on how individuals can achieve self-reliance.

As mentioned earlier, to live self-reliantly with genuine thought and action, one must "trust thyself." In other words, one must trust in the nature and power of our inherent capacity for independence, what Emerson calls, "Spontaneity" or "Instinct" - the "essence of genius, of virtue, and of life." This Spontaneity or Instinct is grounded in our Intuition, our inner knowledge, rather than "tuitions," the secondhand knowledge we learn from others. In turn, Emerson believed our Intuition emerged from the relationship between our soul and the divine spirit (i.e., God). To trust thyself means to also trust in God.

To do so is more difficult than it sounds. It is far easier to follow the footprints of others, to live according to some known or accustomed way. A self-reliant life "shall be wholly strange and new. It shall exclude example and experience. You take the way from man, not to man."

As such, one must live as courageously as a rose.

Man is timid and apologetic; he is no longer upright; he dares not say, “I think,” “I am,” but instead quotes some saint or sage. He is ashamed before the blade of grass or the blowing rose. These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God today. There is no time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence… But man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround him, stands on tiptoe to foresee the future. He cannot be happy and strong until he too lives with nature in the present, above time.

To live in the present with nature and God, one must not worry about the past or future, compare oneself to others, or rely on words and thoughts not one's own.

Self-Reliance and Society (paragraph 33-50)

In the concluding paragraphs of  Self-Reliance , Emerson argues self-reliance must be applied to all aspects of life, and illustrates how such an application would benefit society. “It is easy to see that a greater self-reliance must work a revolution in all the offices and relations of men; in their religion; in their education; in their pursuits; their modes of living; their association; in their property; in their speculative views.”

In regard to religion, Emerson believes a lack of self-reliance has led prayers to become “a disease of the will” and creeds “a disease of the intellect.” People pray to an external source for some foreign addition to their life, whereby prayer acts as a means to a private end, such as for a desired commodity. In this way, prayer has become a form of begging. However, prayer should be a way to contemplate life and unite with God (i.e., to trust thyself and also in God). Self-reliant individuals do not pray for something, but rather embody prayer (i.e., contemplation and unification with God) in all their actions. “The prayer of the farmer kneeling in his field to weed it, the prayer of the rower kneeling with the stroke of his oar, are true prayers heard throughout nature, though for cheap ends.”

Emerson also believes true prayer involves an avoidance of regret and discontent, which indicate a personal “infirmity of will,” as well as of sympathy for the suffering of others, which only prolongs their own infirmity, and instead should be handled with truth and health to return them to their reason.

As for creeds, his critique focuses on how those who cling to creeds obey the beliefs of a powerful mind other than their own, rather than listen to how God speaks through their own minds. In this way, they disconnect with the universe, with God, because the creed becomes mistaken for the universe.

In regard to education, Emerson asserts the education system fosters a restless mind that causes people to travel away from themselves in hope of finding something greater than what they know or have. Educated Americans desire to travel to foreign places like Italy, England, and Egypt for amusement and culture. They build and decorate their houses with foreign taste, their minds to the Past and the Distant. Artists imitate the Doric or the Gothic model. Yet, Emerson reminds us, “They who made England, Italy, or Greece venerable in the imagination, did so by sticking fast where they were, like an axis of the earth.” One should not yearn for or imitate that which is foreign to oneself, for “Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life’s cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another you have only an extemporaneous half possession… Every great man is unique.” (Emerson develops these ideas further in his essay,  The American Scholar , which calls for the creation of a uniquely American cultural identity distinct from European traditions.)

Finally, Emerson addresses the “spirit of society.” According to Emerson, “society never advances.” Civilization has not led to the improvement of society because with the acquisition of new arts and technologies comes the loss of old instincts. For example, “The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet… He has a fine Geneva watch, but he fails of the skill to tell the hour by the sun.” Society merely changes and shifts like a wave. While a “wave moves onward… the water which it is composed does not.” As such, people are no greater than they ever were, and should not smugly rest on the laurels of past artistic and scientific achievements. They must instead actively work to achieve self-reliance, which entails a return to oneself, and liberation from the shackles of the religious, learned, and civil institutions that create a debilitating reliance on property (i.e., things external from the self).

Emerson concludes, “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.”

Self Reliance and Other Essays Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Self Reliance and Other Essays is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

In Emerson's "Self-Reliance," how does he explain the changes in society, good and bad?

In the final section, Emerson addresses the “spirit of society.” According to Emerson, “society never advances.” Civilization has not led to the improvement of society because with the acquisition of new arts and technologies comes the loss of old...

Leaves of Grass

Whitman's "songs" focus on democracy and freedom, an unwavering belief in patriotism, and the promise of American freedom.

What does Emerson mean by self-reliance?

Emerson opens his essay with the assertion, "To believe in your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, - that is genius." His statement captures the essence of what he means by "self-reliance,"...

Study Guide for Self Reliance and Other Essays

Self Reliance and Other Essays study guide contains a biography of Ralph Emerson, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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Essays for Self Reliance and Other Essays

Self Reliance and Other Essays essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Self Reliance and Other Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

• Ideal Individualism and the Benefits of Conformity
• Trancendentalism and Its Influence Upon the Creation of an American Identity
• What Hangs in the Balance
• Emersonian Implosion: The Self-Reliant Man in Moby Dick and Keats' Poetry
• Huckleberry Finn: Self-Reliance or Self-Contempt ?

Lesson Plan for Self Reliance and Other Essays

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
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• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
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E-Text of Self Reliance and Other Essays

Self Reliance and Other Essays E-Text contains the full text of Self Reliance and Other Essays

• First Series - History
• First Series - Self Reliance
• First Series - Compensation
• First Series - Spiritual Laws
• First Series - Love

Wikipedia Entries for Self Reliance and Other Essays

• Introduction

Student Essays

Essay on Self Reliance [ Importance, Benefits in Life ]

This essay talks about Self Reliance, Its meaning and Concept, Importance of Self Reliance in Life, Benefits of Self Reliance in Personal and Professional Life, How to learn Self Reliance in Life. This essay is written in Simple English and in easy to understand words to help children and students.

Essay on Self Reliance | Importance of Self Reliance & Benefits

Self reliance is the ability to rely on oneself for all things. It is a term used to describe someone who is independent and does not need help from others. Self-reliant people are usually confident and can take care of themselves without assistance. They are also able to make decisions without consulting others.

Self Reliance:

The term ‘self-reliance’ is often used to describe a person who is able to fend for themselves without help from others. Self-reliant people are independent and capable of taking care of themselves. They are not reliant on others for their happiness or success.

Self-reliance is an important quality to have in life. It allows you to be in control of your own life and destiny. When you are self-reliant, you don’t have to rely on others for help or support. You can do things on your own and feel confident and capable.

  >>>>> Read Also:   ”  Essay on Life Without Electricity “

Self-reliance is also a key ingredient for happiness. People who are self-reliant are usually happier than those who are not. This is because they feel in control of their own lives and destinies. They don’t have to depend on others for help or support, and this gives them a sense of satisfaction and achievement.

Benefits of Self Reliance

There are many benefits to being self-reliant. However, it is not always easy to be self-reliant. It takes time, effort and practice. Here are some tips on how you can learn to be self-reliant:

1. Set realistic goals for yourself: If you want to achieve something, it is important to set realistic goals. Don’t try to do too much at once. Start small and gradually increase your goals as you become more confident and capable.

2. Take responsibility for your own life: You are in control of your own life. Don’t let others make decisions for you. Be assertive and take charge of your life.

3. Learn new skills: Learning new skills will help you become more self-reliant. Try to learn something new every day. This could be a new task at work, a new hobby or anything else that interests you.

4. Be prepared for setbacks: Setbacks are a part of life. Don’t let them stop you from achieving your goals. When you face a setback, take it as a opportunity to learn and grow.

5. Persevere : Never give up on your goals. If you feel like you are not making progress, keep going. It is often the case that the harder you try, the more success you will achieve.

Self-reliance is a valuable quality to have in life. It can lead to happiness, success and a sense of satisfaction. If you want to be self-reliant, start by setting realistic goals and taking responsibility for your own life. Then, keep learning new skills and Persevere through setbacks. Remember, it is often the case that the harder you try, the more successful you will be.

How to learn self Reliance in Life?

Self reliance is not something that can be learned overnight. It takes time, effort and practice to develop this quality. Firstly, you need to set realistic goals for yourself. Secondly, take responsibility for your own life and don’t let others make decisions for you. Thirdly, learn new skills regularly to become more capable. Finally, Persevere through setbacks and never give up on your goals. Remember, the more you practice self reliance, the easier it will become.

Therefore, self reliance is a quality that is worth developing. It takes time and effort, but the rewards are significant. If you want to be self reliant, start by setting realistic goals and taking responsibility for your own life. Remember, the more you practice self reliance, the easier it will become.

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The Importance of Self-Reliance

Learning to rely on yourself is an important strength to have. There are often times where we cannot reach out to a friend or family member. We must be able to help get ourselves through the difficult moment, without alcohol or drug use. Of course, support systems are incredibly necessary. However, you have to be able to rely on yourself. Continue reading for more information about the importance of self-reliance and how you can learn it!

Making Your Own Choices

Learning to make your own choices is one area of self-reliance that you must be able to do. Making your own choices can look like something simple like deciding where to go for dinner, or something more complex like deciding to say no to the offer of alcohol or drugs from a friend because you are focusing on your sobriety.

Taking control of your situation is important. You must learn to make your own choices and not be influenced by those around you. You have your best interest in mind, not everyone else does.

Taking Responsibility

Learning to take responsibility is another necessary area of self-reliance . If you make a mistake, it’s important to take responsibility for your actions. This is especially true if you hurt someone’s feelings. If you have self-reliance, you’re able to truly apologize and say, “I messed up. That’s on me.” If you can’t accept and take responsibility for your actions, you aren’t as self-reliant as you think.

Being Independent

Being able to rely on yourself looks like a strong sense of independence. If you’re able to be okay with alone time and you strive to do things on your own, you probably have a strong sense of self-reliance. Being independent is a great skill to have because you won’t always be able to reach out to your support system and get an answer right away. This skill can help you if you are struggling to stay sober when you are alone.

You Don’t Have to Have Permission from Others

You don’t have to have permission from others to do something you want or need. You have the power to give yourself permission. As long as you are not violating anyone else, you don’t need permission to do something that is a healthy and safe option for you.

You can stand strong on your own and do something because you think it’s right. Being satisfied and having a strong sense of self-esteem is also another part of self-reliance. Give yourself permission to feel satisfied with yourself and your surroundings.

Your Recovery Is Your Own

Own your recovery! Your future is yours and yours alone, so own your recovery. Allow yourself to make decisions that will benefit your recovery in the short and long-term. You get to choose how to move forward, so make sure you are thinking through your decisions. Healthy self-reliance is all about balance, so don’t make a rash decision that’s fueled by emotions. Think your decisions through with a level head. You’ve got this!

How to Be More Self-Reliant

• Grant yourself permission Granting yourself permission to be more self-reliant looks like you don’t wait around for others to give you permission to do something. If you think it will benefit you and your recovery, go for it! Give yourself permission!
• Take control If you wait around for others to take control, you may be waiting forever. This is why you must take control of your situation. Set up goals that can help you thrive in your recovery. Take control of your situation today!
• Find a balance Finding a balance can be difficult because recovery is unpredictable. Spending a good amount of time alone is healthy, but so is spending time with others. When you’re alone, try to reflect on the choices you’ve made and see if you are acting in a way that is self-reliant. If not, how can you be more self-reliant? When you are spending time with others, find a balance between self-reliance and letting others be self-reliant, too!
• Expect challenges Expect that you are going to face challenges in your recovery. We know recovery from trauma and substance use isn’t easy. Expect that you are going to be challenged. Be ready for them. Take it a step further and challenge your expectations. High expectations can often set you up for a letdown, so let go of some of your unrealistic expectations. You can learn a lot when you let go of things and go with the flow. Don’t think, however, that the waters will always be calm. Expect that you are going to face some choppy waters. That’s a part of recovery!
• Look up to someone If you’re struggling with being more self-reliant, try to look up to someone you trust that is also working on practicing self-reliance. A friend or family member may be working on some of the same things you are working on. So, try to bounce ideas off of each other. Look up to them and they may look up to you in different ways. Let others inspire you!

The Guest House is here to help you become more self-reliant in your recovery. Call us today at (855) 372-1079 . We can’t wait to speak with you and get you the help you need today! You won’t be disappointed with the plethora of programs we offer. Call us now!

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