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4th out of 92 books
—
34 voters
Self-Reliance and Other Essays
The six essays and one address in this volume outline the great transcendentalist's moral idealism as well as hinting at the later scepticism that colored his thought. In addition to the celebrated title essay, the others included here are "History," "Friendship," "The Over-Soul," "The Poet" and "Experience," plus the well-known and frequently read Harvard Divinity School...more
Paperback, 117 pages
Published
October 13th 1993
by Dover Publications
(first published 1975)
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when i read this i was 20 and under the impression that what was shitty about the world and people could be changed and that me and my friends could make an impact for the better on people just by talking to them and reasoning with them.
since then i've lost god and watch w "win" back to back elections, so I guess you could say i'm a bit more jaded.
still, i like a lot of what emerson says. self-reliance cannot be underestimated. if only we chided ourselves for our mistakes instead of placing blam...more
since then i've lost god and watch w "win" back to back elections, so I guess you could say i'm a bit more jaded.
still, i like a lot of what emerson says. self-reliance cannot be underestimated. if only we chided ourselves for our mistakes instead of placing blam...more
"Self-Reliance" is an essay that captures the independent spirit behind many Americans, but it overlooks the sinfulness of people. Emerson calls on each person to listen to his own intuition rather than society, membership organizations, or religious traditions. He believes that each person can achieve his greatest genius by listening to himself.
In the middle section of the essay, Emerson presents his arguments for his belief. The support seems to largely be based on a faulty understanding of G...more
In the middle section of the essay, Emerson presents his arguments for his belief. The support seems to largely be based on a faulty understanding of G...more
Whoso would be a man, must be a non-conformist. 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.
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.
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, a...more
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.
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, a...more
Ralph Waldo Emerson is the greatest writer who ever lived. I carry his collected essays around like a Mormon carries the Book of Mormon. Though I don't ride a bike. No one has every offered up more wisdom, with such jazzy tempo and energetic flow. He has a more extensive vocabulary than Shakespeare, and I believe he was the first writer who suffered from A.D.D. It is like the great UCLA professor Coulecourcio once said, "It's as if his sentences don't know each other." I appreciate that he doesn...more
Emerson's transcendental philosophy is interesting in how it sidesteps a lot of the problems associated with similar views. Though very similar in its emphasis on the power of the imagination to Romanticism, and though Emerson makes some really outrageous claims, he has a manner of writing and argumentation that is so assured and clear that sometimes it doesn't matter that he's wrong, or at least limited, because he's inspiring in his wrongness, and wrong only in a rigorous philosophical sense....more
I love Ralph Waldo! I can only understand 1 out of every 5 things he says, but the parts I am getting are brilliant. I hear the American Scholar essay is fantastic. Can't wait to read it.
Nathaniel Hawthorne best captured Emmerson's Transcendentalism in his short story The Celestial Railroad (inspired by Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress). He says, "He [i.e. Giant Transcendentalism] shouted after us, but in so strange a phraseology that we knew not what he meant, nor whether to be encouraged or affrighted."
Emerson’s essays are filled with feel-good rhetoric on being “one with the Oversoul.” He lectures on “originality” while borrowing ideas from Eastern religions and insists upon “reli...more
Emerson’s essays are filled with feel-good rhetoric on being “one with the Oversoul.” He lectures on “originality” while borrowing ideas from Eastern religions and insists upon “reli...more
Emerson can lift you from your world into a blissful state of oneness. A close reading can enlighten and explain the simple components that make up a life that is worthwhile. It'll make you want to go out and see the world but also to realise that you need to appreciate where you are in the moment too. “If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every nig...more
Jun 16, 2011
Angelina
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I adore Emerson, and Self Reliance is my favorite of all his essays!
Being a non-conformist is fine. But that doesn’t mean you are exempt from the moral code of the society in which you live, or that you are superior to those around you. Or that that God is speaking through the genuine actions of your pure, undying soul. After reading “Self-Reliance”, I understand why so many reviews of this essay begin by saying that this was formerly a much-loved read during high school. The main ideas here are straight from the diary of an angst-ridden, over-privileged, self-a...more
I had read this when I was in high school and I remember having liked it very much. Now, not so much. But what a freeing guy Emerson is. You can read what I wrote. Or not read it. Or like it. Or criticize it. Emerson whispers in my ear, “What care you?”
“Self-Reliance” by Emerson
“Speak what you think now in hard words and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again…”
What a great line. I think I’ll open with that one. As I’ve already changed my mind on this essay once, it’ll leave me...more
“Self-Reliance” by Emerson
“Speak what you think now in hard words and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again…”
What a great line. I think I’ll open with that one. As I’ve already changed my mind on this essay once, it’ll leave me...more
I'm not that big into non-fiction. It's strange as I enjoy learning as a general rule, but non-fiction is too close to being like a textbook to me. Emerson, thanks to the time; when the written word held more value, and more thought was given due to the effort it took to write it; put forth the ideal of America, particularly through literature. Due to him authors like Melville, Hawthorne, Whitman, Thoreau, Douglas, and, to a lesser extent Beecher-Stowe brought a new wave of modernity to literatu...more
"Ne te quaesiveris extra."
i loved these essays in high school despite having to read emerson for a presentation. this is one book i really wish were here on my shelf and not back in indiana.
"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...more
i loved these essays in high school despite having to read emerson for a presentation. this is one book i really wish were here on my shelf and not back in indiana.
"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...more
"it was amazing" is kind of a bunk way to rate this book. I've loved Emerson's essays since I was introduced to them as a teenager and find that many of them are worth revisiting again and again every couple of years (if you're of a sappy nature, they are especially enjoyable to read while sitting under a tree in on a springtime afternoon). Solid and comforting.
Besides Whitman, Emerson more than likely most influenced me during my college years and thereafter. I have never been one to read essays…I just haven’t been drawn to do so, but with Emerson I was. And, to date this is the only volume of essays I have ever read. But, my heavens how these essays impacted me and imprinted themselves on my thinking.
The essay "Self-Reliance" has been immensely important to me. If ever you are going through tough times, or feel that you are not being treated as well as you deserve, or fear that you are too dependent on another person for your happiness, or are just wondering about what it really means to have personal identity, read this essay. It's incredible.
What: Discusses Emerson's ideals, and themes that transcend the rest of his literature, such as the individual's need to avoid conformity, and follow his own instincts.
So What: Another text in which the power forming one's own beliefs comes in to play.
Now What: Students will discuss how, in Emerson's essay, self-reliance comes in to play with personal truth. How can finding out one's own beliefs guide them to a sense of self-fulfillment?
So What: Another text in which the power forming one's own beliefs comes in to play.
Now What: Students will discuss how, in Emerson's essay, self-reliance comes in to play with personal truth. How can finding out one's own beliefs guide them to a sense of self-fulfillment?
Mar 29, 2009
Briar
marked it as to-read
Emerson has always been the kind of writer that I never could sit myself down to read; Emerson and Thoreau. However, years later out of college and I think I'm finally getting to understand him. His essay on Compensation hooked me in, and now I want to see how much more I can handle. ;-)
I first read Emerson in an Early American Lit class in college. I don't think I would have gotten into his writing if it wasn't done in a classroom setting though because it's not easy reading.
Anyway, I think he was brilliant and innovative. Self Reliance is my all-time favorite essay.
Anyway, I think he was brilliant and innovative. Self Reliance is my all-time favorite essay.
One of my prized possessions, Its one of those books that deserve a re-read every once in a while. The eloquence with which he presents his ideas on the abstract and the absolute have a way of becoming a part of you.
Well thought out paragraphs can be books by themselves.
Well thought out paragraphs can be books by themselves.
well, i only read 'experience' and 'self-reliance,' and this is basically a review solely for the latter. my problems with transcendentalism increase depending on tone. not a fan of emerson's self-righteous, peremptory tone. still, i'll probably read the rest of this someday.
this book really opened my eyes to obtaining genuinely positive & natural feelings. some of the most original, and inspiring words and phrases i have ever happened upon. hopefully i can edit this because i'd love to write more, just trying to get some stuff on here.
Okay, the truth is I haven't really read much of Emerson since college, but it impressed me greatly then, and I think he is a must-read in American lit. When I have run across Emerson in the years since, I have not been disappointed. He still resounds with me.
Interesting insights into one of the foremost transcendentalist thinkers of his time. One of those authors who makes you think. Whether you agree with him or not, or if you're not sure whether you agree with him, his writing expands your realm of thought.
May 2012. Saw his house yesterday and his headstone. It's the closest I can come to meeting him...for now anyway. It was a really strange headstone in case you were wondering. I've decided I need to reread his works.....
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Okay....Sooooo....I didn't understand half of this. It reads to me like the book of Proverbs. There are random sentences that I get and then the rest I was thinking, "what?" You could pick a random paragraph and get some good mental food to chew on. Th...more
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Okay....Sooooo....I didn't understand half of this. It reads to me like the book of Proverbs. There are random sentences that I get and then the rest I was thinking, "what?" You could pick a random paragraph and get some good mental food to chew on. Th...more
Self-Reliance is the best essay by far. I like that fact that he was so hell bent on everyone thinking for themselves. He was a great proponent of the rise of the individual and that ideology is still an important part of American culture.
this was a fantastic read telling of how he thought things should work. it captured my attention and really got me thinking, but to fully understand this book you really need to think in depth and look beyond what the text says.
Pure and simple... "Self-Reliance" was life-altering. My personal philosophy of life is largely grounded in the ideals that are so well articulated and espoused in this short work. It's like scripture to me.
Aug 03, 2010
Sarah
added it
Emerson's address to Harvard Divinity School, "Self-Reliance" as a text has had the most resonance in my life. Time and again I go back to it and look to it to give me more meaning, new meaning, and a renewed sense of self.
I must say that I love Emerson! Sometimes it's a little difficult to get through his work. It's not particularly entertaining, but it's full of amazing advice. Emerson had the right idea about life and I love his work.
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Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early nineteenth century.
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“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.”
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“Be yourself; no base imitator of another, but your best self. There is something which you can do better than another. Listen to the inward voice and bravely obey that. Do the things at which you are great, not what you were never made for.”
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