Emerson--Self Reliance
Respond to two of the following in the comment section:
- What distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
- Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
- Is Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
- Take any of your questions from your annotation and expand on them here.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"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,” ( Epilogue to Beaumont and Fletcher's Honest Man's Fortune)
Emerson placed this quote at the beginning of his essay. I believe he put this quote there to because it relates to his point of the essay. I think this quote means that every man can decide his own future by the choices and actions he takes along the way. The man that decides to be the best he can for himself can choose his path that provides the opportunities to reach his goals. If he works hard and strives to be the best he can, overtime he will get everything he deserves and wants.
This quote relates to Emerson’s essay because in his essay he urges readers to take pride in being an individual. He urges us to not conform to the popular ways around us , but instead be, do, and, say what we truly feel, despite what everyone else thinks or does. In this quote, the man that chooses his own path is also the man that is an individual. This is because he chooses his path based from his needs and wants, not the others around him. In his essay, Emerson urges us to be these individual men that have their own goals and dreams, as they are described in this quote.
I completely agree. This whole article is all about being yourself and not conforming. This quote is a great opener. I love how at the very being you knew what Emerson was trying to get across. Every man gets to chose where he wants to go in life and no one has the power to stop him.
DeleteMy favorite part of this quote is, is that it seems open to everybody. All people have the power to control their own life. If they can find themselves they can do anything they want. The sky is the limit. I also love how he compares man to a star. That brings the saying "the sky is the limit" in to perspective.
Take any of your questions from your annotation and expand on them here.
ReplyDeleteIn Emerson’s essay, he asks “What makes the majesty of the heroes of the senate and the field, which so fills the imagination?” For this quote, I decided to annotate, “What makes a hero, a hero?” When I asked myself this question, I came up with even more questions, such as:
-Are the only people that can be considered a hero have to be the ones that are taking huge actions for the greater good, or can they be a more ‘behind the scenes’ type of hero?
-Is a hero someone we admire, respect, and look up to?
-Is a hero only a hero when everyone is aware of them?
I believe there are multiple definitions and opinions on what makes a hero, a hero. The idea of what makes a hero can be different for every single person. I believe a hero does not have to have a “superpower,” and he does not need to be recognized by everybody to be considered a hero. I think heroes are people that have impacted someone's life in greater way, whether is be drastic or not. A hero should be someone that, even with their flaws (because yes, even heroes have flaws,) can be admired and looked up to. A hero is one that will step up when no one else will and be an individual, which Emerson urges us to be, and he will follow what he believes, even if it contradicts other people’s beliefs. Lastly, a hero is not someone that necessarily puts their own life on the line, but is someone that tries to do the best they can for the greater good, without the expectation of any type of gain, whether it be material, or popularity. I believe everyone has the potential to be a hero, it just depends on if they will act on it or not.
I thought your annotation was great! When I read this I actually stopped to think what I thought was hero was. Your questions made me really think of what I truly believe a hero is.
DeleteI completely agree with you when you say there are many definitions of a hero and that it differs from person to person. A hero should definitely be someone people look up to and no they shouldn't need to have superpowers. Most heroes I believe, are truly right in our everyday lives and we might not even notice because they could be doing little things that could really be considered heroic. .
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDeleteA 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.
To close his essay, Emerson uses this line. This is his last attempt to prove that conforming is not what leads to a happy life. To find a happy life you must look deeper. You must look inside yourself and find the person you are, truly are, and this will enable you to see the joy in this world. You must be your own self to be able to understand who you truly are. Finding who you are is the hardest task in life, but once you do everything will seem clear and you will then forever live a happy life.
This whole essay is about not conforming to society. Emerson shows that the majority of people are conformists and end up looking to money and objects for happiness. This will lead them to a life of forever displeasure. This line is the perfect line to end because it really showcases what he has been trying to say through this whole essay. In this line Emerson is able to show what will bring everyone happiness. Be true to yourself.
I am glad you chose this passage from the text, for the quote emphasizes the significance of intrinsic values over extrinsic values. Trying to obtain the encouragement of others is not only a lucrative task, but one that does not fulfill the individual. Finding solace with yourself far surmounts any praise another provides. Conversely, if you cannot find solace with yourself, the sting of your own disdain will break you long before another decides to point fingers. This notion further intertwines with self-reliance, for, in this scenario, you depend solely on yourself to establish self-worth.
DeleteWhat distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteSelfishness and self-reliance can be be seen as very similar. However they are two completely different concepts. Things that have to deal with self-reliance is pushing yourself. You try to get things done by motivating yourself and you end up being very productive. Selfishness however is being self-centered. You only think about yourself and end up being vain.
Throughout this essay it seemed that Emerson was trying to get people to gain self-reliance. Do things for yourself. Push yourself. However he seemed to do this by showing that the world id full of selfish people and being called selfish leads people to resent the writer. They don't want someone bashing them and therefore tend to not listen. When calling someone selfish, you are saying you are better than them. Therefore you are guilty of being selfish. I think Emerson is guilty of this.
I agree with what you are saying about how Emerson seemed like he was trying to get people to be more self-reliant.I totally agree with what you said about selfishness and self-reliance coming across as two similar things but I do agree that they really are two different things.
DeleteEmerson was being kinda harsh when he was saying that majority of people in this world are selfish but i have to disagree with him. Yes, there are many people out there who truly are selfish but many people just might be more self-reliant.
I completely agree with your thoughts. Selfishness and self-reliance can be seen as one but are very different. Self-reliance is used for great things like pushing yourself which I think pushing yourself to hard can be seen as selfish, which is why they are seen as similar. When i wrote my response I didn't think he crossed the line but when I read yours I noticed that he did push hard and made it seem like everyone else was the bad guy which will make the reader look bad. I know we're suppose to leave bias out of this but I think your really got into this essay and understood it well.
DeleteI think self-reliance and selfishness coincide at some point. In order for us to be self-reliant, we must have goals that we are pushing ourselves to achieve. When on our path to achieving our goals, we are often faced with a crossroad because of the needs, wants, and goals of the people around us. One path we can take is to continue forward with our goal and ignore the want of help from us that other people may need. Another path is to stop your path of accomplishing your goal and help the other person to accomplish theirs. As we hear often, you must take care of yourself before you try to take care of others. This is a very selfish statement, but it is also realistic. Sometimes we are forced to ignore someone's need for your help because it is the only way for us to achieve our goal. I think it is appropriate to be selfish at times when you are self-reliant because we will never be truly happy if we always put everyone else's needs before our own and we do not face our own problems first. Therefore, when on your path of self-reliance you must also be selfish at times.
DeleteI agree that self-reliance and selfishness go hand and hand. Emerson in this essay tells us that in order to achieve what we want in our lives it might be against what society wants. We have our own needs and wants and to strive to achieve them, which is an honorable self- reliant trait to have. To many others this might seem selfish. But in the end the decision a person will make will most likely not affect the people's lives around them. Many people who call self-reliant people selfish are very selfish because they cannot comprehend the idea of pushing against society to achieve what the person wants. In the article he shows this point by giving examples of our fears in life that society makes us feel if we stray from everyone else. How it's selfish for someone to stop a dream from happening because of the fear of being hated.Sometimes to be self- reliant you have to be selfish at times in others eyes.
DeleteI agree how you say those two go hand and hand. Espically how you said it by Emerson is saying about us to be self reliance about ourselves and rely on ourselves no one else. If you really think about it Emerson is telling us to be self reliance but it is as well as being selfish by if we only rely on ourselves and don't listen to what other people have to say we are being selfish because then we would only rely on ourselves and think what anyone else says is wrong and ignore them but they are most likely right.
DeleteI do agree that some people truly believe that people see them as synonyms. They actually are antonyms and have different meanings. Emerson tries to persuade us and push us to believing in our selves. I do believe that he is guilty and has crossed the line as well
DeleteI agree with you in saying that Emerson seemed to be trying to get people to be more self-reliant.I also agree with you saying that self-reliance and selfishness can be very similar and very different at the same time. I do also think that he is guilty about the whole selfishness.
DeleteTake any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"Every true man is a cause, a country, and an age; requires infinite spaces and numbers and time fully to accomplish his design".
This quote stood out the most to me because the author is stating that every man is defined by many different things. Everything we do in life defines who we are as humans. We all have our own "design". We decide who we want to be and how we want to achieve that. We are all unique in our own ways which makes us have our own “design” that defines who we are.
This quote fits in with the context of the overall essay because the essay was mostly about how men are in society and how they are. This quote is a prime example of how men are in society and it gives ways on how we, men, are viewed and how we view others. We judge other men in society on their likes, dislikes, activities, religion, etc. But the big picture is that every man is different and thats what makes us unique.
I love this quote, I also love the way you explained this! Another thing I love about this quote is that is brings out the point that you never stop growing and only time will show what your "design" is. You could know someone for 10 years, and think you know them better than the back of your hand. Then someday they could do something completely unexpected, leaving you to wonder if you ever truly knew this person. These experiences help shape not other others, but ourselves as well. Adding a new edge to each others own unique "design".
DeleteWhat distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteThe difference from self-reliance and selfishness is that being self-reliant is more of being an independent person than dependent. You want to be able to do things for yourself and others and not needing others to tend to your every need. Being selfish is where you only care for yourself and not others. You don't want to help others who might be in need.
In this article I didn't really see a spot where Emerson really crossed the line. I seen most of his statements I agreed in some way with. Yes he was kinda harsh with some of his views on men in our society but he was really trying to push people to be more self-reliant rather than selfish.
i agree with your opinion on self-reliance vs. selfishness. however I feel as though there is a large number of people in this modern day world that have their definitions confused. although it is a broad, the other day i believe i encountered an example of blurred definitions. i was at a festival and there was of course a tent of straight edge vegans trying to convince others to participate in the fight against animal consumption. however when they told their story, they stated that they made the switch because it was their own selfless personal decision(to me this seemed like an act of self-reliance).However when they attempted to convince me to make the switch as well, it wasn't nearly as heartwarming. they talked down to me because i wasn't vegan, shouting statistics from other people who made the choice and saying that if i didn't, I would in fact be endorsing the cruel slaughter houses. They said that i was selfish for making the wrong (personal) choice. As if my own personal choice was somehow beneath theirs. So my question is was my own personal decision, my own act of self- reliance, selfish? Or were the vegans who didn't listen to my explanation as to why i have to consume animal products selfish by scrutinizing me?
DeleteDo you feel that by Emerson emphasizing the correct way society should be ran, with freedom and open minded people, that he is almost creating another hard line society? that by having these expectations of man kind that he is almost creating another set of societal rules, much like the ones already in place?
What distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteSelf reliance can be a very good thing, it may mean that you are completely independent for food, money, shelter, and water. Selfishness, would be refusing to share this wealth with others, or demanding that it must be done is certain way and not taking into account others needs.
There was only one place that stuck out to me where Emerson really crossed the line. In the google docs format, on page 6, Emerson states, "Let us never bow and apologize more. A great man is coming to eat at my house. I do not wish to please him; I wish that he should wish to please me." To me, this sounded like Emerson was telling us to do away with manners do only what was necessary to get what he wanted. I do not believe that is what we should do at all. For one thing, you must give something in return to get something. For another thing, we should always be courteous of anothers wants and needs, in order to be polite.
I completely agree with the way you distinguished self-reliance and selfishness. I believe that self-reliance is a positive thing because it means that you're not relying on others to not only be sufficient, but also simply make everyday decisions. In the quote that you shared, it seems to me that Emerson stopped promoting self-reliance and began promoting all out selfishness. If you were self-reliant, you wouldn't expect someone else to wish to please you because you are relying on someone else to be happy instead of yourself. I agree with your last sentence in a way because it is always shows positive character when being polite; however, it is important to remember to take care of yourself. I believe that is where self-reliance comes in. It's not that you are being selfish and only thinking of yourself, I think in order to be happy and healthy you need to take care of yourself as well as considering others.
DeleteThis is an interesting Emerson quote. However, I interpret it differently. “I do not wish to please him; I wish that he should wish to please me.”, I view this as, I want to be known for my intellect, to the point where others will seek my company. The beginning of the quote is merely stating, let us not be apologetic, but confident. Therefore, I disagree that Emerson was telling us to do away with manners, but to be influential.
DeleteTake any of your questions from your annotation and expand on them here.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading this essay I came across a few moments where Emerson seemed to be overenthusiastic about his God references. And before I go any further, I would like to say that I have nothing against any religion or not having a religion. I myself am not religious and I say what I am about to say in criticism of Emerson, not God.
On page 7 of this essay, Emerson states,"The relations of the soul to the divine spirit are so pure, that it is profane to seek to interpose helps." Now, I interpreted this as saying that only god is worth following. Also, later in the essay he seems to say that we should devote our lives to God.
Now comes my question, if you rely on God, is it self reliance? Emerson's essay was all about being independent from society, but if you devote your life to god for him to provide you guidance, is it really self reliance? My answer to this question is not complete. On one hand, I believe that yes it is self- reliance. Emerson is using a divine force to help guide him in his endeavors that his is completing himself. On the other hand, the guidance stops him from being truly alone. I don't know the answer to my question and I don't believe I ever will. I just felt it was something everyone could ponder about.
This is something that I too was wondering about as I was reading. I myself am a religious person, so I agree with your first answer to your question slightly more than the second answer. But, at the same time, I totally understand where you're coming from with the second answer. Is one truly practicing self reliance if they are also practicing religion? In a way I believe yes, because that person is relying on their own judgment of religion and God to help them endure life and all of it's difficulties. I don't think that having that guidance stops him from being truly alone, because then what is there to even live for? What would be the point?
DeleteWhat distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteThere is a fine line between selfishness and self-reliance. To be self-reliance is to be independent but to give that independence. To keep away from selfishness you need to use your reliance for the greater good. Emerson states many times that self-reliance should be used to help others by standing up for what you believe in. To be selfish is to conform and to not stand up for what you think.
Emerson states "You're genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing." You must use what you believe and what you have learned from self-reliance to spread anti-conformity, to not do so, is selfish. This is what he means in this quote and in the entire essay.
I do not believe Emerson stepped "Over the line" in his essay. He has a very strong opinion about self-reliance and anti-conformity and he is showing this in a bold manner. He may be harsh at points but I do not believe he crossed any boundaries. To say he crossed the line or has to strong of an opinion is to defy his entire lesson throughout the essay. Do not be afraid to be self-reliant and to own an opinion and spread it.
-Jack Frischen
I agree and disagree with this. I completely agree that Emerson's essay is very strongly opinionated and that there are differences between self reliance and selfishness which I agree with your definitions, but Emerson could have made his point still without calling everyone who doesn't stand up fort themselves all the time selfish. You never know what other people are going through or have been through to form there own morals. Also clearly everyone will not have the same beliefs, so are some better than others? Or some right and others wrong? I think no one its for the best if everyone is different with their own opinions but whose the one to judge if those opinions are right or not? Those were just some of my thoughts on his essay.
DeleteTake any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDeleteThe quote I am using is a short quote. It is, "Infancy conforms to nobody" By this short but strong quote he means that we only conform because we grow into a world that forces conformity. This quote is a lot like the saying "ignorance is bliss," because children do not know any better than to stand for what they believe in. Throughout the essay, Emerson says that things like the government force conformity, and those that it basically does not mean anything too, like children, do not conform. This quote is apart of a larger quote stating that children are great role models, for they do not stand aside for conformity, but they pass it right by and continue with what they believe.
This fits in the overall text because the thesis of this essay is anti-conformity. Emerson is showing how we should act and how children show self-reliance. Children show what he believes in stronger than anyone else. Children self-rely and do not conform to anything and because of this are excellent role models, according to Ralph Waldo Emerson.
I think this quote can sum up Emerson's views on non-conformity very well. Children are the only ones in society that do not conform, simply because they are ignorant to it. In our society people degrade children, and would never look to them as role models, but really we should. Like you stated, they stand up for what they believe and don't care about others opinions. Children are the ones we should follow, for they are the only ones who haven't conform yet. Many young people can't wait until the they grow up and gain more responsibly and respect. They don't realize that as you age, it gets worse. If only as we grow older, we don't conform and in essence "be children" our whole lives.
DeleteTake any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"Man is timid and apologetic; he is no longer upright; he dares not say 'I think,' 'I am,' but quotes some saint or sage."
I chose this quote because I believe it is very relevant to life in this day and age. Emerson is describing the fear people have to be themselves, and voice their own opinion. To break it down, when Emerson states, "Man is timid and apologetic," he is explaining that people fear what others think of them, so they are willing to apologize for what they believe in just because someone else believes differently. By saying, "he is no longer upright," the author is trying to make readers understand that people are no longer confident enough to stand tall and make decisions for themselves. They simply slouch their shoulders and use ideas of others to get through life. "He dares not say 'I think,' 'I am,' but quotes some saint or sage," is Emerson's way of articulating people won't say what they believe, and therefore they use the words and beliefs of others to make believe that they fit in with everyone.
The quote I chose fits into the context of this passage because of its main idea: self-reliance. The quote shows how people are relying on others to get through life, which is simply conforming. By relying on oneself to make decisions in life and to stand up for one's beliefs, he of she is promoting nonconformity, which is the message that Emerson is trying to get across.
I agree that the quote above relates to the behavior of people in this time and age. The reason, as stated above, is because some people don't have enough courage to take a stand and take pride in who they really are. This is mostly due to pressures from others but a lot more from oneself. To put it simply, it's just because of the human psych that make people act this way. If they got a bad grade and showed it to their guardians, he/she would apologize and say that they will do better next time. Another example of this is when a person is being seriously questioned; they dare not say "I think" to the ones asking the questions in fear of something bad happening to them. In the end, it all depends on a person's confidence and willpower to become a person who isn't afraid to speak out and be who they are. (Individualism)
DeleteThis quote is easily portrayed in every day life. From infancy, we are brought up by innocence, caring less about the outside world, and we are free to do as we please. Then, it is up to our parents to continue developing us, to slowly merge us out of our fantasies, and into the real world. It deeply benefits us, but now we have moved into the phase it's a dog-eat-dog world. We must meet up to expectations, do our best to show our strength and superiority. If we fail to meet those demands, our self-esteem will highly weaken. When man compares himself to others, he degrades himself, saying that he will never be as successful to others . As he gets other people to do the work for him, due to his own lack of self-trust, his position has been dragged to the follower, not the leader. His own willpower has been overcome by fear. Leaders who have self-reliance, and trust can learn from their mistakes, and as an end result, they can gain more strength internally, by increasing their own motivation, from experience. Todays society has often been too reliant, and dependent on others, and we need to enforce the "I think I am" independence factor.
DeleteIs Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteEmerson's view on life is absolutely compatible with the modern age. He continuously talks about conformity, which is very prevalent in this era. We rely on beliefs of other people to make decisions instead of simply making decisions for ourselves. When we don't know what's going on in the world, we turn on the news and believe whatever the media tells us. When we go shopping we buy whatever is "in style" only because that's what everyone else is doing. Instead of doing our own research about politics to decide which side we should support, we turn to others to be convinced by them to believe what they believe even if we haven't heard the other side. These are all examples of conformity, which is what Emerson explains as unacceptable. By promoting self-reliance, people could begin to do things the way they want to do them, instead of doing things the way they are told to do them. We would all become more of individuals in this Modern Age as opposed to followers of a few major leaders.
I totally agree! I really like how you gave different ways we try to fit in. I know if I have a problem and ask my friends for advice, I may just go with what they said because they think it's right and makes sense, of course. When people go shopping, we try to fit in, even if it's wearing high waist shorts to silly bands in sixth grade. Everyone has Candy Crush, Flappy Bird, 2048, etc. because it's what the new rave is. It may not be the BEST choice, but we want to fit in with the crowd. Additionally, we see conformity with technology. With conformity, someone had to make a change of clothes or an opinion but since enough people supported it, it became the new norm. We strive to become ourselves in a world that's trying to conform people. I think Emerson really brings out that we shouldn't try to be like others. I like what you said, do things the way people want to do them instead of being told, very true.
DeleteI believe Emerson's view on life is compatible with modern age as well. Conformity is something that everyone does and can relate to. It's something that helps people fit in wether i's clothes, food, etc. If there was one person that didn't do what everyone else did they would stand out and most likely be made fun of. So, yes i believe conformity has a lot to do with life today.
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ReplyDeleteTake any of your questions from your annotation and expand on them here.
ReplyDeleteTrust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, 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.
While reading this I had to take a moment to contemplate this passage after briefly skimming over it. My first impression was that Emerson was explaining that a man must accept his unclear destiny with open arms as if to follow all great men who have done so in the past. I wasn’t exactly sure if I interpreted this in the correct manner or if I wasn't quite fond of its meaning. But from what I gathered my questions arose as followed:
Was emerson trying to postulate the idea that a poor man should accept his lack of wealth, be it in education, funding, physical appearance, or some other form of measurable success, because it is simply what his “fate” or “destiny” has chosen for him?
~Does this mean that a poor man should accept his fate and that a rich man should not help the poor because they were meant to be in that position?
~Does this mean that all circumstances are easily explained because divine providence has chosen the path that an individual, a nation, a race must be in any given situation-starving, beaten, poor, or enslaved- in order to maintain balance?
~Or is the explaining that in all events, man himself chooses how they portray the situation? That if they are starving, it is for a higher power. If they are poor, it is for someone else to live a more stable life? And if it so happens that they be rich, it is because they were meant to act as an inspiration to those trying to meet ends meet?
I had the same question throughout the entire essay. It does seem that Emerson was a strong believer of the destiny and fate thing, which would then be constantly followed by something about "a higher power". I am more so leaning towards your first of three questions as his motivation for mentioning those things, because of his tone and attitude towards those he deemed "below him". I feel that he felt that somebody was of their status because fate had made them so, and that no matter what they did, they could not change it(which is completly unrealistic because people change their status all the time.) I myself am not entirely sure how he would explain a poor woman suddenly becoming royalty via marriage, because he can not turn around and say it was her fate. He seemed to be very tunneled vision about a person's status. You are rich, and you cannot be otherwise. I wish we knew what he thought about status changing people.
Delete“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.”
ReplyDeleteI love this quote because it means that life around you is always changing and your opinion is as well. I like this because my mind is always reevaluating what i said yesterday. i always question if i was wrong for what i said and most of the time i might have been in several eyes. however what this quote made me realize is that i wasn’t necessarily wrong, in fact i was just interpreting the information i had at the time. It wasn’t because i purposely didn’t want to admit to something(unless i was lying), it simply meant that i hadn’t the information to develope my claim. This quote also says to me that tomorrow and today aren’t as closely correlated as one might think and that there is a natural reset in between that one should take advantage of.
This quote fits with the essay because Emerson constantly reiterates how humans are able to change. That mankind has vocal cords so he must utilize them and speak of change. That society as a whole is able to change but it is man who must speak up in order to create this change. This quote explains that man should be allowed to speak and should feel free to because their opinion will evolve with each passing moon much like society does.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"Do not think the youth has no force, because he cannot speak to you and me"
I really appreciated this quote that Emerson had mentioned. It is saying that the young have voice, for they are the future generation. We see how big of an impact young people can be, especially in today's society. Bill Gates is just one example, he was extremely young when he fell in love with computers, and today we are all about technology and his success! Even though we may be young and foolish, we have different perspectives and ideas. I think it is a great thought because many young people today have thought they have less than an opinion due to their age, but that isn't necessarily the case. It goes on to say "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." I like this point because it brings out that young people may just know what they want and how to voice their own opinion to others.
The quote goes nicely with the rest of the essay. Emerson continues to bring age up-- "voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world." Often, we hear that 'the real world is much different than high school'; however, our values might change. For instance, we no longer strain for fun relationships, but for real and committed ones. Additionally, when we are young, we don't care what people think as he brings out what we should do later on in the essay. However, our actions and values should not contradict because people, like Emerson might "have difficulty to detect the precise man you are". Overall, I really think this quote goes with the whole essay due to going against society as he keeps reiterates.
I agree entirely. Its great to see that the "young" people can have a voice because one day they wont be the young anymore, they will be the ones to help teach the new younger generation. It is also important to know that there will always be another great idea, but without the drive to let that younger generation know that it is ok to not conform to societies "supposed" wishes. This quote fits the essay entirely as well as it main theme. It goes to show that even people like Bill Gates, who were considered nuts for trying to think of something new can follow their dreams by being who they are.
DeleteI also agree, young people will eventually decide all that happens in the world. Eventually, as time goes by, these young people will grow up and become the ones calling the shots. Most older people frown upon the young generation, but what they should be doing is encouraging them to invent, act, speak their beliefs and plans, because the youngsters will eventually be in their shoes.The younger generation can change everything, even the world, and i'm glad the Emerson thinks so as well. This quote also fits within the context of the essay because the younger generation can bring about the change that leads more people to become self-reliant.
DeleteTake any of your questions from your annotation and expand on them here.
ReplyDeleteIn this essay, Emerson says: "If malice and vanity wear the coat of philanthropy, shall that pass?" First, I had to look up some of the words in the context! Malice- noun, desire to inflict pain, due to impulse or meanness. Vanity-noun, excessive pride in oneself. Philanthropy- noun, selflessness concern for human advancement. At first, I was thinking that it meant that you want to be nice to someone, but always do bad things. However, it didn't really make sense to me that he later asked "shall that pass?" Was he trying to say that if you know what is right, how can you still do something that is bad? Overall though I think it is saying-- If you do something good with bad motives, would it still be considered good? It makes sense that this is what it means because he compares philanthropy to a coat. A coat covers your body. Likewise, philanthropy is the 'coat' to the bad motives.
I agree with the bad intentions with good actions being hidden. I think that it may mean more though. I believe he may also be saying that bad people try to make themselves appear as though they care about others. Truth is though they don't. The only people who do care about the others are the ones who were in that situation themselves. The Dave Thomas Foundation founder was an orphan growing up so he truly cared about the kids he was helping. The volunteers at charities may not have had the same problem but similar experiences like in the Wounded Warrior Project. The veterans are helping each other because they care for one another. It is the people who are trying to make themselves look good and they don't care about who they are supporting.
DeleteI agree with you on your latter point. By "shall that pass?" Emerson means "is that excusable/okay?" and I think he wants there to be a very obvious answer of "no". It is very easy to hide a selfish or mean act under a good deed. A simple example would be if Person A dropped their pencil in class and Person B doesn't do anything about it. But then Person B notices that the teacher is watching them, so they rush to pick up the pencil. They obviously did it only for the attention, so the teacher would think higher of them. This is the meanness hidden under the good act Emerson discussed in the quote. Emerson wishes for a world in which people do good things only for the sake of making a positive change, and not because they have evil hidden motives.
DeleteTake any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete“My giant goes with me wherever I go.”
The connotation of “My giant goes with me wherever I go” is your problems do not leave you. This quote corresponds with the self-reliance message within Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay Self-Reliance. A quote which relates is “Travelling is a fool’s paradise”. A “fool’s paradise” is a state of happiness based on a person's lack of knowledge about or denying the existence of trouble. Both quotes signify avoidance of your issues is irresponsible.
I agree, to ignore your inner values and move to one country to another is indeed, a fool’s paradise. However, traveling can shape us by gaining new experience. Traveling can assist us in deciding which values are significant to us. Emerson writes travelling is a distraction and prevents ourselves from learning who we are. What is wrong with some distraction?
I agree with you here, your problems follow you and no matter where you go you can't hide them they will only get bigger if you don't fix them. If you choose to not fix them it shows cowardliness and like you said being irresponsible.
DeleteI also can interpret that “My giant goes with me wherever I go.” by his guiltiness of what he has done in his past and it is the giant that follows him around that makes him want to speak out about what he did and his problems that follow him from what he has done years ago.
Some distraction is good for the body and mind lets us let go of our real life and that is where we find our problem with distractions. If we let reality and real life get too close together it's hard to pull out and find the distinction between the two you want to make sure that your traveling doesn't take over your life and who you already have become.
I do agree that your problems follow you wherever you go. Because a problem is an inter conflict it will have more of an impact if you ignore it. The only way to fix it is to face it and move on. You see this even in young children. A fight with their parents means running away to what they see as a solution but others see as a "fools paradise". The way Emerson uses "giant" symbolizes how much of an impact the weight is still on your shoulders.
DeleteI believe that distractions are good but only after the problem is acted upon. If not this whole distraction will only take your money and leave you worse than before, If you don't deal with your problems and then distract yourself it can cause depression. Just remember your roots and come home soon.
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ReplyDeleteTake any of your questions from your annotation and expand on them here.
ReplyDeleteRalph Waldo Emerson writes in his first paragraph, “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.” Paradox? Do all opinions come together to form the truth? Emerson constructs the argument that whatever "truth material" makes up the entirety of the universe is present inside each person. It is not possible for everyone’s opinion to be the universal sense. The other portion of the quote states to trust your first instinct. This statement is agreeable, although, it is implausible that all people’s opinions come together to form facts.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDeleteI'm going to expand upon one of my favorite concepts given in this essay - infancy.
"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."
In this passage, The author incorporated numerous explanations to his idea of self-reliance and society's reliance of conformity.
Let me begin with Emerson's concept of "childlike" behavior in our youth and adulthood. An infant relies more on instinct than learned behavior. As we age, we get more rigid and less flexible. We should try to harden back to our earliest ways of being in order to recapture that flexibility and ability to learn and grasp most anything. Due to our predisposed beliefs, we seize to express our complete thought!
The presentation that is being implied by the author is perfectly perfect. Just perfect! It's not the words, but the deliverance. "Hark! in the next room his voice is sufficiently clear and emphatic." The one who voiced his mind received the side half full in our "doomed" world of fate. The innocence of the infant beats us all...
I really like the way that you interpreted and read into this paragraph! I remember this passage very clearly, and I took my interpretation in a little different direction. I saw this passage as depicting the power that infants have over adults. The diction that Emerson used led me to this conclusion with the use of such words as “conform,” “armed,” “enviable,” and “force.” My interpretation caused me to have an image of an almost militant youth that we should all aspire to be.
DeleteIt was interesting to see this passage in a new light and with a more positive spin. I never even considered how one way that infants seem to possess such a “power” is through their flexibility to new situations. However, with this interpretation, it seems to go against Emerson’s normal grain of being close-minded and focusing only on yourself. He even says how “infants conform to nobody.” This is not to say that you are by any means incorrect, it’s just to say that particular statement completely closed my mind to any other infantile characteristics aside from their powerful screams.
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ReplyDeleteTake any of your questions from your annotation and expand on them here.
ReplyDeleteAt times I felt that the author was too domineering with the negative aspects in hiding the other half of ourselves. "We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents." Not all of it is due to shame. If man were to be completely honest in his presentation, it could result in something worse than the shame we feel from hiding our thoughts.
My question was, are we risking our self image to society for power in return?
This passage seemed to answer my question:
"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 which does not deliver. In the attempt his genius deserts him; no muse befriends; no invention, no hope."
The last two sentences were so beautifully written! I've read parts of the 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene, and this very much related to what he had to say. The way man doesn't present his full thought is the presentation in itself that doesn't deliver. Being liked doesn't necessarily give you power. Both Greene and Emerson's idea of self-reliance is to gain the ability to control oneself - not the image.
You could say that there's a large risk of losing something of equal value. But the essay isn't written about "Self-Image." It's about "Self-Reliance."
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DeleteI really like you question, and I found myself wondering the same thing. While reading the Essay, I felt like Emerson was instructing us to be almost mean and unkind, and to live for ourselves and only for ourselves, and that gave off a sociopath feel.
DeleteI did not, however, pick up on that paragraph and what it was trying to say while reading the Essay, and i'm so glad you did.
I totally agree now with your statement, "Being liked doesn't necessarily give you power." And I completely agree that Emerson was trying to say just that.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDeleteOne memorable quote that got my attention right away was, "...envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse...". When I read this, it made me think deeply of what Emerson truly means by this sentence. The meaning behind this line is that being jealous of someone else is naive; trying to copy someone else is just getting rid of your old self, and that it's the person themselves who have to choose what is best for them or not. Another thing, Emerson hints here that trying to be someone else whom they're really not won't make the person themselves feel better; especially if it doesn't express their real selves. This quote relates back to Emerson's main point of his essay: to do things by oneself and making themselves unique in their own way. In Emerson's essay, he repeatedly states that it is better for people to depend on themselves more than listen to others most of the time. Overall, Emerson's quote is inspiring because it makes others think about what they can do to change themselves instead of just standing by and watching.
This quote really captures the whole intention of Emerson's essay and your analysis is superb. Your break downs of each section of the quote was handled nicely, and I myself could not come to a conclusion that would not have already been said better by you already. I would like to comment also on your catching of the subtle hint he had of "that trying to be someone else whom they're really not won't make the person themselves feel better;" because it helped me understand more of why you chose this particular quote to comment on. I agree with you fully that this quote specifically is inspiring to be one's self and to disengage all attempts by others to change him/her. I applaud you.
DeleteTake any of your questions from your annotation and expand on them here.
ReplyDeleteOne sentence that I was confused about in Emerson's essay was, "...two is not the real two; their four not the real four..." First off, I had to reread this sentence about two times before I thought that Emerson could possibly be referring to these as homonyms. My reason is because Emerson continues to explain how every word that the other person said was very confusing and vexing. Another confusing part of Emerson's essay was, "...And so the reliance on Property, including the reliance on governments which protect it, is the want of self-reliance..." The confusing part of this sentence is how does relying on property and the government lead to a person who wants to rely solely on themselves? My only answer is that it's through admiration that the person tries to do things by themselves instead of having others do it for him.
Take any of your questions from your annotation and expand on them here
ReplyDelete"The power which resides in him is new in nature" What does he really mean by this? I believe that he is telling himself he never knows what he can do until he tries it. But following the pattern of the essay I'm also led to believe that he needs to be free from society and be different than what they want him to be. He wants to know what he is capable of doing and see if he can come to peace with himself.
I agree with the idea that the author is expressing the belief that people should try new things. However, I also took this quote as meaning that each person provides a new perspective and can ultimately provide new ideas that haven't yet be thought of or put to test in all of mankind. Therefore, each man has the power to share that new knowledge or keep it to him/herself. Then again, this interpretation would lean towards the idea of selfishness rather that self-reliance.
DeleteTake any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"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"
This was one quote that stuck with me after i read it wondering why did he put it this way. He is talking about not fleeing their destinies in their lives and they must except that. I don't believe you have to except your destiny you can change who you are and what you want to become it's not written in stone. Now that they are growing up they need to start thinking about who they do want to become what do they think their destiny is. What they do know about who they have to be is someone who helps others out and be beneficial to others not a coward who doesn't help when help is needed. What i really don't understand is the Chaos and the Dark i still don't know what that means.
I believe that it goes with the text pretty well by saying don't become someone you don't want to be, but accept your destiny when you don't change your ways and you are stuck being known as a coward when you don't help when you are needed. As he says obey the Almighty and help out.
What distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteEmerson defines self-reliance as living by your own views and finding your purpose in life. He also mentions that many people who have achieved self-reliance have become great leaders and have created many great original ideas. However some of Emerson's ideas cross over into a selfish mindset. I would define selfishness as caring only for one's self or keeping something someone may need even though you don't need it. Emerson looks down upon people of the lower class. He seems to think it is their fault that they live in poverty. He mentions that he often doesn't give money to the poor. Emerson also has an idea of experimenting to find out what you think is right and wrong. This is a terrible idea. A person may experiment with an idea society sees as wrong and can put the safety of others in jeopardy. This person wouldn't care they would just want to know if it is good or bad so long as he or she would not get hurt, no harm. Emerson may have some good ideas in here but it seems to take a bit of selfishness to reach his ideas.
I agree with how you differentiate self-reliance and selfishness. Your definition of selfishness fit very well in my eyes. Emerson was both a man of self-sufficiency and selfishness, and you explained how he had often confused the two very well. Emerson has a twisted thought process when you speak about how he blames the lower class citizens for being in their department. I think you summed up how Emerson crosses the line with selfishness instead of what he thought he was seeing, self-reliance.
DeleteTake any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"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"
In this part of the essay Emerson is talking about how all knowledge comes from the soul. I think he is saying that the soul, when one with nature, is a thing filled with wonderful and insightful knowledge. We cannot ignore it because it is our thoughts which we share with the other members of society. This fits with the rest of the essay because it is talking about how we can only achieve great knowledge by our selves. We cannot ignore it. Which drives us to work hard and lead people to what we think is right. Once our soul is at peace with nature and it is giving us knowledge, we have achieved Emerson's idea of self-reliance.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"Imitation is suicide"
This is a very short quote, but I think that it is also very powerful. I believe with this quote, Emerson is trying to tell us that when we start imitating others, we start to essentially "kill" parts of ourselves. He is trying to get across to us that when we copy others, we lose our self in the process.
This quote fits into the overall essay because it has the common theme of self-reliance. Emerson writes this long, detailed essay about how we need to be ourselves and how important it is to never lose sight in who we are, and in my opinion, this quote sums up a small majority of the essay.
I agree. Emerson describes again and again to not give into conformity and to imitate someone in this sense is the ultimate offence. Every single person on the planet is different and when people do not keep true to themselves eventually how many originals will be left among the copies? Someone else's individuality may spark inspiration in others, but it doesn't mean that they have to now be them. We all must follow our own paths and not just find one, create one for ourselves.
DeleteKatie brings up a strong point in mentioning that we must not lose ourselves by imitating others, but from my perspective, Emerson wants us to withdrawal from this how simple it is to follow others, and to live by their rules, and most important, how we were raised to do so. For the majority of us students we all find ourselves as the typical high school students, the jocks, the artists, the nerds, e.t.c. We were born to believe if we weren’t athletic you couldn’t be a jock, if you weren’t smart, you couldn’t be a nerd. We were raised to believe in society’s cruel tones forcing us to believe we aren’t good enough, when there is no standard for what is good, and what is bad. By writing this essay, Emerson was trying to persuade us into believing in our own thoughts, and believing we are as good as we want to be, and not even the poor methods society raised us in can restrict our prosperity if we reach deep inside of us, and utilize the magic we were created with, but forced to hide.
DeleteI love this quote because as you quite easily said, it sums up most of the essay. I also agree with what Jessie said because Emerson has told us in the essay to be ourself and not to conform to society and what it wants us to be, so being our selves is the best option. Conforming to society and becoming someone you're not won't help you in life, therefore you only have one option, to rely on yourself, and quite simply, be yourself.
DeleteWhat distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteSelf reliance is when you can trust and rely on yourself. Being selfish is when you only think of yourself and only care about yourself. The line that distinguishes the two is very thin. For instance, in the book "Into the Wild", main character Chris tries to be so self reliant. He is so wrapped up in "being himself" that he comes off as selfish in regards to his safety and his family's feelings. I think that there are definitely parts of this essay where Emerson takes it too far, for instance, " I shun father and mother and wife and brother, when my genius calls me." Self-reliance turns to selfishness when we put the feelings of loved ones at risk.
I feel that what Emerson say's is justified. There is a line between fulfilling your obligations to your family and having your family hold you back. When Emerson said " I shun father and mother and wife and brother, when my genius calls me" I think he means when my family starts to interfere with what I believe I must move on. The connection you made with into the wild is spot on. Chris took self reliance too far and didn't give his family a chance. That's one part that made me hate Chris is he just didn't care about anyone but himself. In conclusion, I think Emerson was trying to stress a point with the quote, not saying leave your family when they do something wrong.
DeleteTake any of your questions from your annotation and expand on them here.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading Emerson’s essay on self-reliance, I found myself agreeing with many of his points- particularly that we tend to not give our own ideas enough merit. Emerson stated how “Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his.” Through the entirety of the essay, I found myself wondering what his purpose was and how it related to this statement. At first, I thought it must be to inform others how the only way to true self-enlightenment and fulfillment is through total self-reliance. However, if this was the case, he would be asking us to adhere to his own ideas.
Emerson spent much of the opening of his essay bashing those that accepted outside views into their life. He compared such thoughts as “bonds and sages,” and preached how only total internal concentration can yield anything of relevance to an individual. His essay was riddled with hypocrisy, which I continually commented on, but this aspect I could not move past. For me personally, it made me lose a tinge of respect for Emerson, even though his essay was certainly thorough and original (or rather, as original as one person’s essay can be). How can someone who lives such a life of introspection not see such a fatal flaw in his own essay?
It is not the fact that he failed to see this fatal flaw, but that he ignored it because it is in essence not a fatal flaw. It is your choice to see it as hypocrisy because you are the reader. He did not, when writing, expect you to follow him and conform to him since that is obviously against the concept of his essay. Yes, he is promoting you to be self-reliant, which you see as following his ideas, which isn’t self-reliant. However, that is your view, not his. Emerson sees it as he promotes you to be self-reliant through his examples. He knows that if you truly realize the purpose of the essay and follow this concept, you will not follow what Emerson says word for word. You will become self-reliant, and that is his goal, but you don’t become self-reliant because you follow him but because you were enlightened. Emerson also understands the concept of society. He knows that most people will never become self-reliant. Because of this, he is focusing on the people he knows won’t follow him word for word. Emerson is targeting those who need a stimulus to truly encompass their self-reliance. There are people who will follow every single example that he says, and those are the people who don’t understand the full concept. The few people who do understand it will prosper, and that is Emerson’s ultimate goal.
DeleteIs Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteI think that Emerson’s view on life is as compatible with the Modern Age as it ever was with his own time (the 1880s). The times continually bring about new and sometimes profound changes, but there are certain “fundamental truths” about human life that never change. Since existence first began and man was in his most “primal state,” humans have relied on each other for survival. We need each other not just to solve every day problems, but also for the simple continuation of our species.
Emerson’s view on life is completely reliant on the presence of other, non-self-reliant people. If everyone on the Earth saw the world as he did, things would come to a stand-still, all would fall silent, and the human race would cease to exist. This may seem dramatic, but I believe that Emerson failed to see how his ideas rested on the persistence of others. What is the purpose of being so introspective, if there is no one else to seek peace and solace from? What principle truths would need to be found, if there were not others that still suffered from ignorance? The Modern Age may have brought about new technologies and connections that allow sharing of thoughts and ideas to occur at the blink of an eye, but the importance of said sharing has always been at the same, crucial level it is to this day.
Is Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteEmerson’s view on life applies to many aspects of the world we know today. In the essay Emerson shows an example of this when he says, “The wave moves onward, but the water of which it is composed does not.” By stating this opinion in his essay, Emerson says society will never move on but the people that make it up will. The author explains that people will always change and conform to what they believe to be the most popular in the views of the general population, which in our current day and age I believe to be true. Another Example of how Emerson’s view on life is seen in current day is when he states, “All men plume themselves on the improvement of society, and no man improves.” The author meaning of this sentence is that people look to improve their society by creating a world that meets their every wants and needs, without understanding that it is in fact themselves that need the fixing, not the constant environment in which they live. I believe that this idea also applies to our everyday life, where construction is constantly in motion to develope the newest attraction, may it be an amusement park or a thriving restaurant chain. All in all, Emerson’s view on life is one that continues on to be true in the 21st century and the unforeseen future.
Take any of your questions from your annotation and expand on them here.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading through the text, the idea of conformity is brought to the readers attention, and how difficult it is to unconform from society once conformity is complete. I read through the sections depicting this idea and kept coming back to the same question. Is there a way to find your way back to what you truly believe outside of the influences of society once you have conformed to its every thoughts and wishes? In order to unconform, do you have to disapprove of everything that you just conformed to in order to believe what you truly have the whole time? The text continues to say that conformity comes with beginning to believe what society wants you to believe, that is what the general population believes. Therefore to have a chance at being popular in the eyes of the general population would mean to believe what they believe. This idea brings up another question. What if the ideas and traditions that are thought of as normal by society are the ideas and traditions that you already believe? Are you still conforming?
I found this concept very intriguing as well. Although, the question of if you can unconform after conforming to society for a long time, I believe the answer is yes, you can. I think many people conform to society when they don't know who they are yet. They are overwhelmed by all these different ideas and beliefs surrounding them, so they take the easy way out by agreeing with the most common voice, which is society as a whole. When someone eventually assumes responsibility for their thoughts and opinions, they start to figure who they are. This is when they unconform and go about things that they want to do, or achieve.
DeleteThe next question though, " What if the ideas and traditions that are thought of as normal by society are the ideas and traditions that you already believe? Are you still conforming?", I am still stuck on because although you may think you are believing in yourself and your thoughts, it is also what everyone else believes as well. I think that we all put our own spin on the universal ideas because of the experiences we have had, so we are able to explain why we believe in these ideas through our own words, which makes it seem like we are not conforming to society.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading the essay, I came across a quote that impressed me not only because of the message, but also because of the beauty of the language and the sound of the statement.
"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."
In the above passage, Emerson describes self-reliance perfectly, using an example which shows the ultimate goal in the matter. He first states the negative aspect of being reliant on those around you, describing them as "deceiving people". I was astonished as I saw him boldly list his father, mother, wife, brother, and friend in this category. It is in this statement, as controversial as it may be, that the clear message comes through. He lectures you to take a step away from those that you find so close because they also divert you from your self-reliance. Emerson tells you to follow yourself as you become “truth's.” This could be hard for many to conceptualize because family has become such an intricate part of our life, leading us since times of our infantry. However, as we grow older and become independent, we begin to develop our own moral standards and must discard the discipleship to others. If we do not, we become copies of them and disappear ourselves, losing our individuality.
I believe this quote captures the general meaning of the essay, as do many others. Emerson talks about the avoidance of dependence on others, and the goal to follow your own morals and the truth that you have found in yourself. This passage, however, often forgets the concept of conformity, excluding the attempts to blend into large groups, but it does address the danger of being reliant on others. This passage summarizes the idea of self-reliance by incorporating both the independence from others and the dependence on yourself and your own truth.
Is Emerson's view of life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDelete(I took a twist on this. I asked the question: Is Emerson’s solution to his view of life, which is self reliance, compatible with the Modern Age?)
Emerson’s view of life is an idyllic concept to strive for in the Modern Age, but the increase in conformity due to social pressures expanded by the popularity of media renders this ideal essentially unattainable. Nowadays, life is driven by the news, magazines, and internet, causing people to be exposed to social pressures on a larger scale than before. The media can taint people who do not have the strength to break away from social norms. This strength that is needed is massive because it is not only the people around you who try to make you conform, but it is also the structure of society itself. However, this media, if the person is not swayed easily from his or her own self, could lead to an easier search for self-reliance. Media exposes you to a variety of things, letting you develop your self-reliance through much broader experiences.
Emerson wrote this paper in a time where social boundaries were not prevalent in the ways we see them, so it is hard to know his exact intentions or his view of a modern society. Our modern society is built around being fake. It is built around pleasing others so that you are accepted and can get your pay to get food on the table. A lot of jobs are centered around being a worker for others, making you dependent on them no matter how hard you try to become self-reliant. In these work environments, you must conform to what your boss wants from you so that you don’t become a failure. Even if you do decide to discard all of this and depend on yourself as Emerson advocates, you risk your entire reputation and lifestyle without a guarantee for success. Therefore, I believe that even though you can overcome generic conformity, you can never become completely self-reliant in this modern society.
In conclusion, you should attempt to build self-reliance, disregarding the social pressures that would change who you are. It is essential to make sure you are not simply a copy of another person, hidden in their shadow and forgotten about individually. However, the complete self-reliance that Emerson promotes is extremely difficult to achieve and not suitable with the great part of society. It is the dependency so commonly seen as conformity that lets the majority of people achieve success without risk. Our communities are interconnected, and it is these connections that give many people power and influence to become prosperous. Overall, self-reliance is something to work towards, but Emerson’s unconditional view of it is not compatible with the Modern Age.
Is Emerson's view of life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteEmerson's whole idea was, what makes certain things good or bad and who decides that. In his lifetime, life as we know it was probably drastically different. Technology, theories and morals have all been advanced in the hopes to help society advance.
I do not think Emerson view is compatible with Modern Age because today media has a huge influence on society, telling you what's right or wrong and those who follow that seem to rely only on the news, music, TV for the answers of how they should behave instead of relying on themselves to morally decide for them what is wrong or right. In Emerson's lifetime there was no media so the decision of making your own decisions instead of conforming to society were much easier. There will always be peer pressure but the difference between then and now is the media isn't affecting or altering the decisions made. Pressure from media is the reason why its hard to think on your own and without that problem is no longer there. So, Emerson's very opinionated view can not really be applied in Modern Age.
Though I agree that is much more difficult to remain self-reliant in the modern era, due to how most people are constantly bombarded by media images of what is correct, I also disagree that that would change his idea that it is a good idea to be self-reliant. I would argue being able to be self-reliant is a difficult skill for anyone in any age to master, but also that it makes it no less important. I think it is especially dangerous how easy it is today with all our media to simply be told what to believe instead of taking the time to decide your views yourself.
Delete•Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"A man is relived and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best"
I love this quote because it relates to anyone, the Modern Age, B.C era, old or young, anyone. Also, this is very inspirational to me because its so true. When you work hard for something and do your absolute best that's all that anyone ask for is that you try. This quote could be talking about sports, assignments, test, or work. Its so universal that it applies to almost anything. I think this means true happiness comes from within, when you pull your heart into something to make it great. It could be anything but that's up to the person which is why I think its such a great quote because its individual. Only you can know what makes you happy, so after striving to obtain it comes pure happiness which I think is amazing. This quote relates to the overall text because its not about society telling you what you want its yourself, and that's the whole meaning of the essay. Self reliance, its all about what you want and that's why I love this simple but powerful quote.
What distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteSelf-reliance is living for yourself; selfishness is when you only live for yourself and ignore everyone else. Emerson in his essay Self-reliance talks about doing what you think is right and ways you should go about doing it. He never crossed the line between self-reliance and selfishness. During one part of his essay he talks about relationships and how they shouldn't get in the way of what you think is right. Some may think this is selfish but if you read farther down he says "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." (Emerson). He's saying I will do what is expected of relationships and not let them get in the way. Which is healthy if a friend is just using you that friendship should end. In conclusion, Emerson's Self-reliance was just that self-reliance not selfishness.
I agree with you completely on the subject that Emerson never crossed the line when it came to the difference between self-reliance and selfishness. Self-reliance is based on being independent and being able to provide for ones self, while selfishness is only caring for your own intentions and desires and willing to take advantage of people for your own benefit. I also feel you are right that Emerson did not cross the line, but instead felt very strongly about being self-reliant
DeleteIs Emerson's view of life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteEmerson's view is compatible with modern times but it may be harder today. Emerson talks about doing what you think is right and just. Today many people pursue careers in fields where they can make a difference and do what they think is right. Emerson at one point in Self-reliance says "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. " (Emerson). He's saying live in the now don't focus on the past or too much on the future. If you have ever been sad and talk to someone they probably said the same thing just a little less wordy. Many things Emerson said in this essay people repeat today. It may be harder to live for yourself today because many things in life happens in groups and most people want to fit into groups. To do that they may not be themselves or act completely different . All in all, Emerson said many helpful things in his essay Self-reliance that are still very applicable today.
What distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay when Emerson seems to cross the line?
ReplyDeleteSelf-reliance and selfishness are two vastly different concepts. Although both ideas involve relying on ones self. Self-reliance is based more so on independence and relying on ones own abilities rather than those of others, while selfishness is based on the users desires which at times can include taking advantage of others in order to reach their own goals.
Emerson strives throughout the essay for the reader to gain their own independence, ideas, as well as creating your own voice. He does well getting his point across, but a at times he was on the border line between pushing the point of self-reliance and turning it into selfishness. As the essay goes on Emerson makes comments such as, " The power men possesses to annoy me, I give them by a weak curiosity", "No man can hear me but through my act". The phrases as such refer to his perception of a trait as much as a fact of the sun, which he also states. Emerson does well with describing a seemingly perfect world and yet in the end almost describes the world in which we live filled with witless people, even though his frustration with the world can make him seemingly selfish.
I totally agree. Although both self-reliance and selfishness both have something to do with one's self, they are both two different concepts. Self-reliance is all about independence and one one's abilities whereas selfishness is all about one's self and doing things for one's own goals. But on the topic of whether or not Emerson crossed the line or not, I feel that Emerson didn't cross the line. He only had a strong opinion on self-reliance.
DeleteTake any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"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"
The force of imitation can change a life. Emerson raves about self-reliance , but also being you own person. All men can be unique and to duplicate others actions takes away all that they are that makes them, them. When imitating another Emerson says that the imitator is a poor excuse to the original because they spontaneously act on something, while those who imitate "rehearse it" making it not so.
Self-reliance is the key, the inspiration, and the reasoning for the essay and that all starts with you. This quote holds the inspiration that makes us all unique. Emerson showed that in this quote, not by saying what is wrong with the world, but by saying where we can all start. To not conform by following others, but to be you.
I totally agree with this. Only talents that you truly possess can be a gift, imitation does far less good. Imitation is almost like a shield to hide behind when you are unsure of who you are in the world. It is a road block to becoming truly self-reliant. Yet, so many people imitate and hide who they really are, it makes you wonder. Great quote!
DeleteTake any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"It is as easy for the strong man to be strong, as it is for the weak to be weak."
I loved how Emerson phrased this line. It speaks to me because it is saying no one is perfect 100% of the time and you will fall even if you are strong. This quote can relate to any time period. Whether you are young or old, male or female you can connect with this statement. Nothing in life will go your way every time and if you don't try at it then you will never succeed. This goes along perfectly with the topic of self- reliance. To strive to the best you can be you have to realize to never get cocky on your journey to success. Self- reliance is effected by how much work is put in and how strong you are are a person. Emerson tells us through this quote that life can be strong or weak depending on work effort and attitude.
Is Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteI believe his view on life is most definitely compatible with the Modern Age in many ways. He explains people as beings who are afraid to voice their opinions for fear of being rejected by society. Many people today are silent and tend to follow others because they do not want to take ownership of their own ideas, thinking no one will want to listen to someone who has never talked before. And in some ways, this may be true because people usually only want to hear what prominent members of society have to say, since they have established themselves as someone worth listening to. But, what many may not understand about the world is that the person that everyone is listening to, once had the trouble of being heard by even 2 people. Emerson says that you must speak your mind without any fear because in the end, someone will hear you and agree with you. Today, society is the same way. There are ten times as many followers as there are leaders because people are afraid of the reaction they may receive, but this is the only way that mankind will actually improve, if we all open our mouths and say what we really feel.
I completely agree with your points.I believe Emerson is compatible with todays society. I think all to often the fear of rejection keeps people from standing up and speaking. Emerson explains this point throughout the essay because he constantly explains how people are afraid to be leaders. I love your point about there are ten times as many followers as there are leaders, and to me that is so true. People are so afraid of being wrong and rejected that they often won't say anything. In today's world, we often find ourselves caught up in following the person that speaks the loudest, we may not necessarily agree with them, but the fear of not being right keeps one away from speaking up. Emerson's ideas definitely matches today in the modern age, and I think you brought that up well.
DeleteTake any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"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 quote mostly stood out to me because it is talking about the ability to overcome the normality of society. Emerson uses the word "height" to show the state at which one can overcome the need to conform and he capitalizes it to hint that this is almost a divine state of being. Everyone in the world today, in the past, and in the future, is and will striving to fit in and be normal (whatever that may be). But, sometimes, there are a few people that realize there is no need for this conformity and choose to stand out and think for themselves. Examples of these are frequently referred to in "Self-Reliance" as the many disciples of God, like Peter and John. This emphasizes the fact that Emerson is showing the ability to overcome this normality in society is almost god-like or god-chosen.
This idea can also go back to the fact that people are afraid to voice their opinions for fear of being rejected, which would not be fitting in with the norms of society. This fear though, could be washed away with divine power, since He is looked at to the power to do anything. So, the ability to be able to model Him in some ways or to be chosen to heal, would be an amazing and astonishing circumstance.
What distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteBeing narcissistic is taking advantage of others, it's not utilizing their inner personality to urge themselves to succeed. As a selfish person, one accomplishes each task with the hope of benefitting themselves, while ignoring the possibility of searing those around them. Relying on oneself is not being selfish, for it is grasping the abilities one contains on the inside, and forcing them to shine. Self-reliance is not stealing what someone else owns, and using it for one’s own prosperity. Self-reliance is using what you own to your advantage. There's a difference, where those who rely on themselves don't need anyone to help them, while those who are selfish not only don’t share what they have, but don’t worry when someone clatters back down the stairs of death because they were in his way. The line between the two is fuzzy, but definite, and can often be blurred together when one who is self-reliant refuses to give up something they had created for themselves to benefit others. In the end, that is wounding the pleading person, because a self-reliant man can’t give up one of the many things he holds in his hand to help another in need.
When Emerson shares, "To believe that what is true in your private heart is true for all men — that is genius." In his essay, one may think of him as brilliant for encouraging men to share their thoughts and rely on themselves, but if everyone believes what occurs in their private hearts, than millions of ideas and thoughts will be floating around the Earth, and no one will have the courage to defeat their ideas and support one that’s more beneficial to society. Emerson was selfish to say that everyone should believe in their private thoughts, hoping to allow him to worship his own hidden feelings, when if everyone did, men would be following their own ideas, and wouldn’t be able to unite the country into one. He proved to be a narcissist because he sacrificed the good of his community for his own happiness.
Is Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteYes, his view on life provides an idea that everyone should have the confidence to believe in their own thoughts, but in the modern society where one must portray a perfect image, it’s quite the challenge to contain the courage to defy these laws. Perfect grades, perfect attendance, perfect plays in a sport, it’s such a challenge to live in this world, and at least not attempt to fit in, and look like the celebrities beaming on magazines, and giggling on television, they are glorified in our eyes, and we can’t help desiring to appear like them. We can’t rely on ourselves to concoct the image that society needs us to be, we wait for bullies to push us around, and select high standards for us to achieve in everything we do, but Emerson urges us to halt those activities, and prove to those surrounding us we are deserving, so in that scenario they do apply.
There’s something special about becoming independent from one’s parents. Attaining our driver’s license, being mature enough to vote, we attempt to be self-reliant, but we truly never are. If one were to scrutinize the journey of Chris McCandless it is apparent that even he can’t eternally last alone, without the encouragement of each other. Technology has made it easier to rely on each other for food sources, and other for fresh water, and others to keep our homes cool, we can’t do all of that ourselves. In this scenario, Emerson’s thoughts on having the ability to only need oneself is inexistent in our world of technology and confusion, for we are weaved together by our lack of knowledge and vulnerable states that Emerson would’ve been ashamed of.
I completely agree with you. In this society technology and media are bombarding us on a daily basis, and it's practically impossible to ignore it. Whether it be celebrity news or encouragement to try this or that, we are constantly envying the people we see on television or trying to imitate them. It can happen in as common of a place as high school. As humans we are always envious of what others have and we want to imitate them. To abandon these habits is extremely difficult, like you stated, and would need a lot of courage to do so. I do agree with Emerson's views, but they are not compatible whatsoever to our society, solely because I find it hard to believe anyone would be able to put them to action.
DeleteYour interpretations of Emerson's view on life and the modern world, are completely true. While reading Into the Wild by Jim Krauker earlier, I had reached the assumption, it is impossible to remain desolated from society. God had put us on this Earth, to mingle, and develop with individuals, because the human being cannot just live deaf by itself. While embarking on another spiritual book, it stated that the human being cannot live in a world that is overly materialized, then later he becomes corrupt, or living ascetic-without knowledge on the proper way to survive, he or she might perish. When I thought of Emerson's concept of individualism, I knew it meant mentally accepting one within, despite all the discomforts of meeting the standards of society. Its something we need to practice constantly. As natural beings, we are supposed to carry out the high expectations, that our family has set out for us, so it is extremely facile to feel dissatisfied. However, I think we should imply Emerson's words as the more self-reliant I am, life does not become a chore, and I can do my work peacefully, and passionately.
DeleteIs Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain.
ReplyDeleteEmerson's view on life is definitely compatible with the Modern Age. He talks a lot about conformity and how one conforms to society. Throughout the essay, Emerson keeps revisiting the idea of social conformity. People want to be liked so they change who they are to fit in with "the crowd". He says that you shouldn't change who you are to fit in. You should voice your opinions and ideas. But people are afraid to give their opinions and ideas because other people might shut them down and criticize them. People want to fit in so they conform to society. For example: a popular kid starts a trend at school. Well everyone wants to be popular right? Or at least liked. So they change the way they look and act to go along with what the popular kid started. Those who don't conform are considered outsiders and are ignored because they don't fit in with "the crowd".
Our world is a hard world to fit in with. Everyone expects the greatest from us but we can't always deliver that. We can't always have the perfect plays in a game or the perfect technique. We don't always have perfect grades. But we want to fit in. so we attempt to look like our favorite singers or actors because society shows them as the perfect person. Everyone should be like them. That's where we leave behind ourselves and become someone different. The person we want to be, not the person we are.
What distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteSelf-reliance and selfishness are two very different concepts though they both have to do do with one's self. Self-reliance is where one believes in their abilities to bring them ahead in life. They become independent. Selfishness on the other hand is all about you. You're better than anybody. In the book "Into the Wild", Chris McCandless tries to be self-reliant. He lives out of his backpack and severs any communication with his family members. He goes out into the Alaskan wilderness and tries to live "off the land". Well that didn't work out very well seeing as they found his decomposed body in the back of a bus. Anyways, though we try to be self-reliant, we never truly are because there's always that one thing that we'll need help with. Emerson had a strong opinion on being self-reliant and how one should become self-reliant. He never crossed the line between self-reliance and selfishness.
To me Chris represents both self-reliance and selfishness.
DeleteHe obviously shows self reliance by going out and living in the wild by himself. He provides for himself and is completely dependent on himself for surviving and making his way across the country.
But, he also shows selfishness by not thinking about how his actions would affect the people who loved him. His father was completely heartbroken when he found out his son had died. Chris put his own wants before others, hurting others in his process
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance"
I think what Emerson means by this is that a person will be envy about another person until that person relies that the person that they are envy about is not amazing as they thought they were. Being envy of another person shows me that if you want to be like someone else you have no trust and no self confiendent in yourself. But being who you are and reling on yourself is better then relying on another person. It fits by the whole essay is about self reliance and being envy of someone is not being self reliance and reling on yourself.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"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".
This quote stood out to me the most because it speaks of how we as humans conform to society and things that should not be important to us in order to feel apart of society. Emerson is trying to say that conforming to society affects our character and diminishes our self-reliance.
I think that this quote fits perfectly within the context of the overall essay because it speaks of finding out who you are and what kind of person you and that you do not need to conform to societal pressures in order to determine that. Emerson goes on to say " But do your work, and I shall know you. Do your work, and you shall reinforce yourself". This flows very well with the quote that I chose because it is saying that being yourself makes you a better person and gives you self-reliance.
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DeleteI completely agree with you in every aspect. Emerson describes conforming as a terrible thin to do, but also describes some ways that conforming can easily be dodged. When reading Self Reliance I infer that Emerson believes that the people who conform are envious to those that already match the norm of society. When I read this quote I couldn't believe how straight to the point it was. Emerson flat out told the reader that conforming was bad and once it is done it is hard to undo. I believe Emerson did this to show how much he actually felt towards those who conform and do not stick to who they know best, themselves. Conforming is shown as a bad thing and i would tend to agree with that statement, even in this situation, because a person should be themselves and not anyone but themselves. And sure everyone is bound to conform at some point in their lifetime, I know i have plenty of times. And by reading this essay I now understand why it can be perceived as such a terrible act.
DeleteTake any of your questions from your annotation and expand on them here.
ReplyDeleteA true man belongs in the center of things?
Emerson said that a true man belongs in the center of things. So my question first of all what is a " true man " and does he really belong in the center of things. I think what Emerson means by a true man is that the man is self reliance and that man protects his family and cares for them and nourishes them and would not do anything to harm them.
But does that really mean they need to be in the center of things? I do believe he does but within his own family. I do believe this because a true man like I said protects his family and nourishes them. Everyone in his family would look up to him and go for him for protection and reinsure. So I do believe a true man needs to be in the center of things but within his family.
I agree that a true man would have these qualities, but I believe that Emerson ment differently. An independent man should be self-reliant, trusting in himself to make decisions that will benefit him without the opinion of others. He must also be indifferent to those who judge him and believe that his opinion is superior to those of others.
DeleteWhat distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteBoth self-reliance and selfishness have to do with ones self but are somewhat polar opposites. A self reliant person believes that they can be the best at what they do and that they trust themselves to do it. A selfish person is when you only think of yourself and only do things to benefit yourself.
Emerson tells the reader throughout the essay to have confidence and have a self-reliant life. He explains that trusting in yourself to do great things will lead you far in life. But I also think that Emerson crosses the line of self-reliance and selfishness because he say that everyone believe in their own thoughts and basically not take advice from others. Emerson went on to say that a man should worship his own feelings and that they are sacred to ones self. Emerson can be taken as kind of a narcissist because he is basically saying that your thoughts out weigh the thoughts of others.
I completely agree with the main points provided here. Many of these points were similar to my response. Emerson does come off as a narcissist and a hypocrite many times like you mentioned with his criss-cross attitude. His points sound very good, but many times conflict. The point about thoughts is spot on as well. Emerson sometimes loses his sense of respect and puts himself before many others. Overall, I agree with all these points and I totally see Emerson as the narcissistic, hypocrite which has been mentioned.
DeleteWhat distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteI believe self-reliance and selfishness can be two very different things. Self-reliance is based on trusting in yourself and using your own thoughts for wisdom. Meanwhile, selfishness is defined as disregarding interests of others and only acting in benefit of yourself. In Emerson's essay the two ideas blend many times and conflict, which causes confusion and a few mixed ideas.
In the essay Emerson speaks of the individual thinking of himself and doing things to develop and strengthen trust in himself. These ideas come across as self-reliance. Other times, though, Emerson speaks of relying on yourself and in addition not thinking of others. This comes up as a selfish issue and blurs the big picture. His ideas are great for the big picture, but many times can be confusing because of the strong metaphors that tend to "cross the line".
I completely agree with this statement. I also said that Emerson can come across as a narcissist and that most of the time he talks about thinking your thoughts are more important than others. But he also does have points of self reliance which he says that you need to believe in your thoughts which was pointed out well in this response.
DeleteI agree with your distinction between self reliance and selfishness. I think that you picked up on Emerson's definition of the terms very successfully. I like how you tied in the work of the author to support your claims as well in your second paragraph. I too recognized the metaphors that were very prevalent throughout Emerson's essay.
DeleteIs Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteAs I read the essay I often was confused about his view on life. His view on life is so correct for the most part, but is very different from Modern Age thinking. Our society as a whole is built on conformity and groups in success. Emerson's essay speaks of leaders not being in power, while we are always underneath someone more in control than us. Our society is based on a large hierarchy, while Emerson's ideal society would be all individual who were on the same page in harmony. I do not think our society is ever in full harmony similar to what Emerson speaks of. The Modern Age is full of consistency and strays far from the Emerson view.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDeleteOne quote that I really liked in this essay was "We shun the rugged battle of fate, where strength is born". This quote still holds a lot of truth in it today. I think that a lot of people, including myself, are perpetually afraid to push themselves out of the tiny boxes that they live in. While this may be a common affliction, it can also be very dangerous. Too often we try to shelter ourselves from the new and difficult challenges in life. People are afraid to struggle; however, while it may be uncomfortable, this struggle is completely necessary to growing as a person. Whether or not you believe in fate, dealing with the challenges that arise in life, be them big or small, is a key part of growing up. Struggle is inevitable, so you may as well embrace it. According to Emerson, strength is born in that struggle, and being self-reliant is all about being strong, independent, constantly learning and growing, and being able to comfortably exist without the foreign aid of others. While this is extremely difficult to achieve and maintain, it is certainly not impossible. By embracing new challenges, and learning from them, as difficult and uncomfortable as it may be, we grow as people and inch closer and closer to being truly self-reliant.
When I was reading the essay, I annotated similar things to this quote as you said. It is true that strength is born from adversity and battling the demons of life is certainly adversity. This quote and essay in general made me ask some questions about humanity’s perpetual fear. Emerson mentions human fear in many aspects but especially in the section where he discusses consistency. We are afraid of change because we are afraid of losing control and therefore we seek ways to maintain normalcy in life. Having a 9-5 job and coming home to your children playing soccer in the backyard is about as normal as it gets but do we ever truly have control of life? Change happens constantly around us and more times than not there is nothing anyone can do about it. One would think we would be able to take change in stride and adapt easily but that isn’t the case. We are creatures of habit and change pushes us outside our comfort zone. Maybe that’s important. Perhaps it is important to lose control and struggle to adapt and regain composure because when we come out the other side we are stronger than before. It is that strength that enables us to push through the next struggle with less and less outside help. Maybe being uncomfortable and pushing through is what really makes someone self-reliant.
DeleteThis quote really stood out to me as well, and I especially liked the section right before it saying, "We are parlour soldiers." Not only do we try our hardest to avoid conflict in life, we like to think that we do fight battles. Sitting in our "parlours", we fight with each other over frivolous things, thinking that we know so much, when in truth we are ignorant to nearly everything. So often, we decide that we prefer comfort and consistency over strength or adventure, and waste the beautiful gift of human consciousness on a life that has been lived millions of times before us, and will continued to be copied millions of times more long after we pass. We limit ourselves because we fear the unknown, which as Katie stated often comes in the form of anything we can not control. As Emerson says, when we experience goodness, it is unlike anything else, both strange and new, so how can we expect to find this unfamiliar experience with out struggling to do things that have never been done before us?
DeleteIs Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain.
ReplyDeleteI think there are many ways in which the Emerson view of life and our modern lives can coincide with each other. Emerson provides a truly unique and special idea in which people do not need to look outside of themselves for anything. While we may not notice it, we as people constantly rely on our peers. We look for others to give us affection, criticism, assurance, aid in times of need or distress, and, above all, love. Emerson's view states that this is all unnecessary; we can be this person for ourselves. While it is appreciated to have someone there to support you when needed, it shouldn't be a necessary aspect of life. People come and go, and take with them the support, criticism, and love. Nothing is constant except for yourself, and thus you cannot rely on anything but that. There is a lyric from a song by one of my favorite bands that says "love yourself so no one has to". I've always liked this quote, because it has a lot of truth to it. You can't always rely on others for love or affection, and you certainly cannot guarantee it in the long term; this means that in times without others, you have to be able to be that person for yourself. Emerson's ideas, while not completely compatible with our lives, provide new and refreshing ways of thinking that I think everyone can benefit from.
I think that your view on this topic is entirely correct. I think that you are dead on by saying we rely on other people for love, affection, criticism etc and I think that we do it because we don't rely on ourselves enough. Even for this summer assignment I know I have been wondering, "well, what if this is not what other people are doing?" and this is no good. I agree with you on saying that Emerson doesn't think that this is all necessary, and that we need to live for ourselves. I also really enjoy the song lyric you included, because I too feel like it holds a large amount of truth. How can we be happy if we can't love ourselves, and in the end, it only matters how we feel about ourselves. Other people and their opinions do not really matter, the only thing that matters is your option.
DeleteWhat distinguishes self-reliance from selflessness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross the line?
ReplyDeleteSelf-reliance is being independent and providing for yourself instead of depending on other. Selflessness, however, is acting to benefit others instead of yourself. So, selflessness involves others, while self-reliance is about independence.
However I, personally, do not see a point in the essay where Emerson crosses any line between selflessness and self-reliance. He makes his message clear that what you personally do for yourself will benefit yourself. I could not find anything he wrote that touched on your decisions affecting others or your decisions in order to benefit others. Therefore, Emerson stayed true to the title of his essay and the difference between it and selflessness.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete“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”
I believe this quote means we must stay to true to our self and what we wish to accomplish and be, even when it is difficult. Sometimes we are put in situations where others have other opinions and try to change ours or we think if we change our own opinions it would be the easy way out, but in the end where we end up and how we get there are very important in order to stay true to yourself. Staying true to yourself is important because it is your identity and the actions you take define your identity.
This interpretation of the quote and the quote itself relay back to the essay because both revolve around the idea of individualism and relying on yourself to make decisions that will benefit yourself. These also point to the idea that you only have control over yourself and to stress the importance in taking advantage of the opportunities you can control in order to dictate your outcome.
What distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross the line?
ReplyDeleteSelf-reliance is a trait which gives someone independence. If one is self-reliant, he or she would be hesitant to take aid from another person because that person can rely on him or herself. This person would have to be confident in his or her ability to provide all of the necessities of life without needing another person. Selfishness, on the other hand, is an inability to provide for another person due primarily to a flawed perception of reality that this person is more important than other people. In other words, a selfish person would not think of other people’s needs because he or she considers his or her needs more important than the needs of other people.
Because these things are both relating to providing for oneself, they could be confused which Emerson did in this article. In several points during his essay, he made comments that his needs are greater than other people’s and he also spoke ill of charity work to aid other people. For example, Emerson states “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.” His insistence that a “true man” is completely self-sufficient and therefore needs no assistance from anyone makes him unable to help anyone else.
Take any of your questions from your annotation and expand on them here.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the essay, primarily in the beginning, I was frequently asking questions on change. Emerson made several comments in this writing that implied that the only way to be a true, great, and honorable man is to leave something behind in the world. To change something during your lifetime that people will be looking at for centuries to come. He frequently used examples of scientists and explorers who made some of the earliest and most important discoveries in human history. These comments leave the impression that leaving change is not only possible but a requirement of being a successful or meaningful person.
However, a little later in the essay Emerson makes some more general statements about change not directed to an individual but about mankind as a whole. Many of these comments imply that there is little room to change society and that society itself is what prevents humans from further progression. It was at these comments I became skeptical. How can there be progress without deliberation? The world today is a very group-oriented place as international communication is improving and information can be spread instantly. The human mind can do amazing things but two minds can do even more. Therefore, his need to be alone and follow a personal and often isolated truth seemed like it would leave less of a lasting mark. While it is true that sometimes social pressures can hold humans back from taking action the way they would like to, society also provides a network of people who are looking to move in the same direction as you. Taking steps together would not only allow you to go further with a more global perspective on an issue but it would also make taking that first step easier. Maybe society is not as bad as Emerson thinks.
I thought the same as I was reading this essay! Wouldn't mankind be able to accomplish so much more by working together?
DeleteBut I think Emerson's intention was to build a powerful and successful man, and to do so, he was willing to abandon a merit that we all crave for. He periodically mentions that the instability of gaining power can only be found when relying on others. The only source of power we can rely on... is ourselves. Our self-reliance is what brings us above all.
I completely agree that the power of two men is much more than just one. The more minds we combine, the more we can accomplish in this society. But is that what Emerson is going for? He doesn't want us to be known for our achievements. He doesn't want us to rely so much on others. I think he wants each individual to be honest with themselves and rise with power through their genuine character.
Is Emerson's views on life compatible with the modern age? Explain.
ReplyDeleteIf you look the halls of high school you will notice may notice that, "Imitation is suicide". For today's high schoolers we put so much pressure on ourselves to be popular, to be good at sports, to get good grades, that sometimes we forget, not all of us are good at everything. Try as we might, we work as hard as we can to try and be that perfect image we want everyone to perceive us to be. Emerson was right, "imitation is suicide". We often times try so hard to be the best at everything that we completely lose sight of ourselves. Emerson believed that being true to yourself is the best way to carry on your life, and that is true in today standards. I think once you move past the ideas that you aren't good at something, then you try to find something you can do. Being true to yourself is one of ermersons biggest points in his essay and this is completely true for today's society.
I agree completely with Erin's answer the this question. I see this in many of my friend's lives, they see something they like in someone else that they don't have and will obsess over attempting to change themselves to get that quality they saw in another person.After reading Erin's response to the question it made me think of this line from Emerson's article, "every body in society reminds us of somewhat else, or of some other person". I personally can relate to this and I believe we all see specific things in others that we desire. But Emerson was trying to convey that individuality is the key to happiness in this life, just as Erin was saying in her response.
DeleteTake any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDeleteA very memorable quote that struck me well was "It is only as a man puts off all foreign support, and stands alone, that I see him to be strong and to prevail". This line means that once someone is finally able to manage their own well being without anyone else's help is the moment when they are as strong as they can be. I completely agree with this line because when a person can support themselves and become self-sufficient is when a human is the strongest it can possibly achieve. This quote is still truthful in today's age as well. When someone is able to do things for themselves, others find him/her as someone to look up to as a capable and durable human being. Not many people think of someone as strong when they repetitively need to be escorted through daily tasks. It's not that I am saying that asking for help is what weaklings do, but the strong have no need for aid. There is also nothing wrong with the strong asking for help and the weak asking for it as well. If help is also needed, I would hope that the pride of strength does not interfere with the objective to be accomplished. Society also always has the need to improve as time goes on, but society often confuses improvement for strength. The whole point of Emerson's essay was to promote self-reliance into our thought and I think that this quote shows it well. It is instinct for human kind to grow stronger and when he says that relying on yourself makes you strong, he is saying that it is our program to become self-sufficient.
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ReplyDeleteIs Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteMr. Emerson has a very interesting view on life, that probably would not be compatible with the Modern Age. First and foremost, the constant supply of the author's religious views being forced upon the reader is a turn off to most who are not apart of his religion. Many would that Emerson was trying to convert, or force his faith unto themselves, and therefore would stop reading after his continual reference and assertiveness. In the Modern Age, many religions exist, but also many do not have a religion, so to speak of only one, if at all, in an essay is most likely not a wise choice in convincing people to be self-reliant. Emerson would probably receive more criticism from the sharp key strokes of society than he would hope for. Another aspect that would cause Emerson's essay to not be compatible with the Modern Age is his writing style. He uses words that may now have altered meanings or may have been discarded all together. Furthermore, his grammar style is not the same as the Modern style of writing, so majority of the readers would have difficulty deciphering every single line of the essay. Overall, the author's intention would be understood, but majority of his attempts would be rebuked or not understood by the reader unless his grammar was updated and his assertions were either modified or omitted completly.
I completely agree with you on this one, Emerson used a lot of religious examples throughout the essay. In the modern age, people do not like to hear religious references unless it is about their religion. A few parts throughout the essay could get confusing because of his reference to things that not a lot of people nowadays will know right away. Emerson would get a lot of criticism about his views of society all throughout the essay.
DeleteWhat distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteFirst, the definition of self-reliance is as follows:reliance on one's own powers and resources rather than those of others. The definition of selfishness is:is placing concern with oneself or one's own interests above the well-being of others. Self-reliance is being independent for yourself, but still being conscientious of others while selfishness is being stubbornly independent and not adhering to other's thoughts and feelings. They both have the same basic concept, but the way they are carried out is what labels the person as either self-reliant or selfish. In addition, Emerson himself crosses the line multiple times, by hinting that self-reliance makes you better than other man, and that he knows things that others do not, and does not associate with others he does not find suitable(which is next to no one). He also does not really associate with others when they need help, dawning the, "I did not do this to them, nor are they my responsibility" complex (which contradicts his religion). He attempts to show the reader that self-reliance (through his faith) gives the person an advantage over others, but in the end, he just comes off as a bit snobbish or narcissistic which is associated with selfishness. Emerson had good intentions of using himself, probably, as an example, but he used himself so many times over, one starts to think that the author places himself maybe a little too highly above others. Especially with the quote, "A great man is coming to eat at my house. I do not wish to please him; I wish that he should wish to please me." The quote just does not paint Emerson as a nice man, but instead as a man with a superiority complex.Mr. Emerson blurs the lines of self-reliance and selfishness constantly throughout the essay.
I agree with you on your idea of self-reliance being an independent thought and selfishness being stubbornly independent. They are completely different thoughts that can be confused as one. I also found many parts in the essay where Emerson seemed to be crossing the line and meshing two concepts into one. He hinted at many points that being self-reliant makes you better than others, but he said this in a very selfish way. I also used the same quote in my responses and found it to be extremely selfish while placing himself higher than others.
DeleteIs Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteMany of the statements Emerson says are still compatible with how things are in today's age. He declares that we as humans do not need to look outside of ourselves for anything. Society tends to rely on another being for just about everything. We rely on people for service, comfort, love, nurture, and sympathy too often in our day of age. Humanity today would benefit immensely if we were able to have faith in ourselves more instead of others. A society where we depend on others is built upon trust, but at the same time, fear. Trust and fear coincide together because we fear the one day trust fails us and leaves disappointment and failure. Society frights for the day when our trust deserts us for selfish reasons because when this day comes, it will be a catastrophic impact for civilization. Society today needs to learn more about reaching inside of yourself to find your missing potential. Every single person in our current time has untapped potential that can reveal their true strength, but the problem is that we never manage to reach it. It seems that being able to lean on someone is easier than to find your true self. Civilization tends to prefer the lazy way out rather than earning the experience through hard work, and that is our biggest mistake.
What distinguishes self-reliance from selflessness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line.
ReplyDeleteThere is a difference between self-reliance and selflessness. Self-reliance means relying on your knowledge, power, and ability to get things done. It's more of an individual rather than a team effort to meeting your needs. On the other hand selflessness means the opposite of self-reliance. Selflessness means providing less attention to yourself and offering it to others. It means getting out of your way or having to sacrifice to help another person with their problems or needs.
In the story I did not find a part where Emerson did cross the line. I do believe he did cross the line. Throughout the story he gave a lot of advice and warning, which made him guilty. Emerson is telling us self-reliance is something we should stay away from, also selflessness is something we should do. The warnings and advice is what made me believe he has crossed the line. I believe when you give an advice to someone, you have experiences it before and have been there.
Is Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain...
ReplyDeleteI believe Emerson's view on life is very compatible with modern age life. In the essay he states we should believe in ourselves and that our self trust is lacking. Those are a few points Emerson states people have a hard time accepting and are needed to be improved. He reiterates how important it is to believe in yourself, and its something that everyone has struggled with and can relate to.
There are many examples in this essay that show how his view is compatible with modern age. An example is when Emerson says, ''The other terror that scares us from self trust is our consistency." There are a lot of people that struggle with that. The first time they do something they notice its not going well, then they aren't willing to try it again thinking it might get worse.
I also agree that Emerson’s view on life is very compatible with modern age life. Nowadays it’s so hard to be unique because people are afraid of being judged or being different. People have a hard time accepting themselves for who they are and try to change themselves so that they fit into social norms. Like you said, he reiterates how important it is to trust and believe in yourself because that’s going to lead you to success in your life. I like the example you used because it happens so often. When people try something new and after a awhile they see no change or results, they quit whatever their doing which is wrong because maybe if they waited a little more they might have accomplished their goal. Emerson is trying to convey that self-reliance will help you achieve something that everyone wants, which is to be proud who they are because everyone is one of kind.
DeleteWhat distinguishes self-reliance from selflessness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteSelf-reliance and selfishness are two very different things. Self-reliance is defined as reliance on one's own powers and resources rather than those of others. Selfishness is defined as lacking consideration for others; concerned chiefly with one's own personal profit or pleasure. When looking at the definitions, it is understood how the two can easily be mixed up. Self-Reliance is when you do not have to depend on anyone else. Selfishness is not being willing to share with others. One could be both self-reliant and selfish at the same time however you can also be one or the other.
Emerson seems to cross this line in certain points in the essay. At one point he is explains how when having a guest in your home, you should not have a goal to impress them. I found this very selfish of him, if you have a guest in your home, you should not want them to be uncomfortable or to have a foul time. Emerson also explained himself as a self-reliant man, this was found to be crossing the two ideas of self-reliance and selfishness into one.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents."
I found this quote very interesting, it explains most of us very well. I feel that Emerson was trying to say that no one lives their life to the fullest and no one is themselves because they are afraid what other people will think of them. We are ashamed of who we really are and put up a facade that fits what society wants us to be. This fits into the context of the essay because this quote is all about society and the whole essay is about society. Most people try to act how society wants them to act and are not really themselves. People are ashamed with who they really are and do not express themselves to the fullest because society judges anyone who does something that is not "normal." Emerson said this in the beginning of this essay knowing that it would set a great example for what his essay is about.
I definitely agree with you on this. I love how you found this quote, It practically sums up most of what Emerson's essay was trying to convey in just one sentence. Like you said, I believe everyone is a little ashamed and frightened to truly be themselves with fear of what society and peers will think and feel towards us. Emerson also began to proclaim more how it would be different if he did not care to what anyone would think or disagree towards his beliefs, and it was almost a little shocking to hear his plan because at least I myself could not think that way, but further thinking, it would actually bring quite a lack of pressure. It really did make us look into our lives today.
DeleteWhat distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any point in the essay where Emerson seems to cross the line?
ReplyDeleteSelf-reliance and selfishness are two vastly different ways of living. Self-reliance is being independent in what you do on an every day basis, whether it be your beliefs or living on your own and providing the necessities for yourself. Self-reliance is needed to succeed and thrive throughout your life. Selfishness is completely different. Selfishness is where you only have the best intentions for yourself. Selfishness is where you care only about your good fortune and feel that you are better than everyone else.
I don’t think Emerson crossed the line throughout the essay. I think Emerson ‘s views were centered around relying on ones self and not letting the general public influence our decisions and beliefs. Emerson did a great job at drawing the line between self-reliance and selfishness. For example, one should be independent and trust one’s own decisions, but should not think of ones-self as worth more or more important than the next person. Overall, I feel that Emerson’s views never crossed the line and that he emphasizes the point of being self-reliant and independent rather than being only concerned for ones self.
I agree with the idea that self reliance and selfishness can be completely different. However, I do believe that Emerson may have slightly crossed the line in his writing in concern to the self worth of an individual. For example, saying that "one...should not think of one-self as worth more or more important than the next person" is a great idea to live by, but it is not necessarily that of Emerson. As can be seen in his essay, Emerson feels that his life is of utmost importance, "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?". It appears that he is only concerned with his own well being, and not at all with those of whom are not as fortunate as him. Emerson gives a generous amount of advice on how to be self reliant, which I do agree is important in order to have confidence in your decisions and ideas. Overall, I agree that self reliance an selfishness are differentiating aspects of life; however, I do not believe that Emerson said so in a well mannered and respectful way.
DeleteIs Emerson’s view on life compatible with modern age? Explain.
ReplyDeleteI think Emerson’s views are compatible with modern age. Emerson states multiple times in the essay that society silences our opinions through populous belief. This idea couldn’t be more relevant than in society today. Everyone wants to fit in and be normal so many of our beliefs are silenced for fear of being judged. This is relevant for many different areas in society. We go as far as to change how we dress to “fit in”. Everyone is afraid that they will be judged, so in return nobody expresses their true self. Everyone is hiding something that makes them unique. Whether it be the 1800’s or modern age, the populous still affects the way we live.
Is Emerson’s view on life compatible with modern age? Explain.
ReplyDeleteI personally agree with Emerson's viewpoints, however, I do not believe they can apply to many people in this time period. Some might agree with Emerson, but to actually put his thoughts to action is diffcult. To not imitate others, envy, or care about others opinions is going against human nature. Even those who truly try to put Emerson's points to action in their own lives, could not be truly self-reliant every moment. I do believe that Emerson's views could be extremely helpful in our society, but for everyone to adopt these extreme views and use them is unlikely to happen. Also, I don't believe his views would be compatible with any time period, even his own. His views defy human's nature and human nature doesn't change. I believe we will always be looking for acceptance or trying to fit in somewhere. I think Emerson's views are helpful and make perfect sense, but I know personally I could not be truly self-reliant. Everyday I envy, I look for acceptance from groups, people, or belongings. I imitate people and ideas, and sometimes don't trust myself. I'm sure a high perecentage of people my age, or of any age also do this daily. Therefore, I don't find his views compatible to the Modern Age, solely because I don't think anyone could put them into use in this type of society.
I agree with your response on this matter. However I think that Emerson's point on one's desire to be respected is compatible with any and all time period, and you do need to be somewhat self-reliant to be respected by your peers but also to be respected by yourself.
DeleteTake any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDeleteI chose the quote, "...envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, or for worse, as his portion."
I like this quote because I think it focuses on what almost every human struggles with. Whether we are envying the rich, smarter or prettier people, we are always wanting to be someone else or have what they have. However, we do not realize that envying someone is ignorant. We might want their lives, but yet we have no idea what truly goes on in them, or what they struggle with. They might seem happy, but that might not be the case. Also, when we see famous people or celebrities we have the desire to be like them. We could have the desire to be anyone but ourselves. This is suicide. If you are not your own individual, no one else is going to be, therefore, you are in essence killing your true self. You must accept who you are, where you are, and all of your circumstances. This ties into the essay overall because a main point is always staying true to yourself and not conforming to others opinions of you.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"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."
This quote means that a self-reliant man needs to tell others that they are not bound to society like a tree is to the ground. They must break from society and by trusting themselves, they can become self-reliant. When they are self-reliant, they will unlock new found strength and other beneficial outcomes.
This quote fits into the context of the overall essay because it focuses of the main point of the essay; self-reliance. This quote persuades people to become self-reliant because it shows people that self-reliance is obtainable and very rewarding. Emerson hopes that people will spread the word and convert more people to self-reliance.
I completely agree with you. Society shouldn’t stop you from achieving your dreams or being different then everyone else. Everyone thinks differently and we should accept that. When you trust yourself, you will contribute so many things to society to help it improve. “When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everyone will respect you.” (Tao Te Ching). When you trust yourself, society won’t change you, but people would look up to you instead and try to be like you. I like how you said being self-reliance is obtainable and very rewarding because it really is. Being yourself makes you a leader and you learn to live your life the best way possible. Throughout the essay, Emerson is trying to prove that self reliance is attribute you want to have if you want to succeed in life.
DeleteIs Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteI think Emerson's view on life is compatible with the Modern Age. Even though today is a very different time, people can still be self-reliant. It is much harder however, to become self-reliant now than it used to be, mostly because of an increase in luxuries that people have become reliant on. People of the modern age rely on cell phones, televisions, grocery stores, companies that generate electricity, the government, the garbage trucks' weekly pickup, a paycheck, cars and other machinery, every day. If someone wanted to be truly self-reliant, they would have to give up all of that which makes life easy. As hard as it would be, it is entirely possible. I think Emerson didn't want people to become reliant on so many things like we are today. He disliked all the fancy new machinery, and such that people relied on. Emerson promoted living simply and relying on no one except yourself, and he knew, that despite the difficulties, it was possible and rewarding.
What distinguishes self-reliance from selflessness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteSelf-reliance is more of when you can rely on yourself for something, like you know you can do it without anyone else's help. You push yourself to accomplish more goals and it is almost like confidence within you. Self-reliance has been the one human virtue that carries us forward as individuals. Being selfish is when you really do not care about how others feel, and only about you, your wishes and desires. Someone reaches this stage in their life when they assume full responsibility and independence for their actions they might start to develop a rather selfish mindset. Gradually they start to assume that since they are so independent they won’t lean on the support of others and vice versa. This person will, in time, start to think that the world has to revolve around them.
Throughout the essay, Emerson was trying to prove that through self-reliance comes success. However, he seemed to portray this by showing how selfish the world is and that caused readers to disagree with him. Emerson seemed to cross the line a couple of times in the essay. For example, he said when you have a guest in your home you shouldn’t try to please or impress them. I found this ironic because you want guests to have a great time and enjoy themselves.
I agree. Self-reliance is providing for yourself and family and living off the land, not relying on anyone or anything (money) to support you. Selfishness is more greedy, and a person who is selfish is self-absorbed and just like you said 'thinks the world revolves around them. For example self reliance is like collecting apples from your apple tree you grew, while selfishness is more like collecting your apples and your neighbors apples without their permission. Like I said selfishness is more greedy. I agree that Emerson crossed the line a few times but his general idea is pretty spot-on. And like he said, he isn't afraid to contradict himself.
DeleteIs Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteI believe it is compatible with the modern world due to many people's insecurities. His theory is that people who ignore the community will become more independent. Not listening to other people's judgements will benefit us tremendously. It would cause us to believe in ourselves more and only listen to our opinions. Believing in yourself will help many indecisions and help evolve your intuition to see more options and their results more clearly and become successful. If mistakes are made then fix them for the future, not the past. We already do most of the things he mentioned and it helps individuals to become independent and, their ultimate goal, become successful, therefore the modern age is able to accept his ideas.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"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". I found this quote very interesting because I could really connect to it. I fell like what this quote is saying is that we can not live our lives hiding under a mask to please other people or lying to ourselves about who we truly are to make things easier for others. Also he is saying that if you can take the chance to be true to yourself and others can love and accept you as who you are and not as those lies you said you were, then you will all be happier because of it because you will no longer be living in a relationship of lies. This fits in with the theme of self-reliance because you really can not have self-reliance without truly knowing yourself and being true to yourself. Once you accept who you are, what you believe, and know where you are, only then can you truly be self-reliant.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; what he has said or done otherwise shall give him no peace.
This quote to me speaks about to the happiness someone can gain once he/she has accomplished something especially when they have done it to the best of their ability. I also feel as if this quote means to genuinely put time, hard work, and dedication into not only your work, but what ever task you are doing. It does not matter how tiny the task is, why do it, if you do not give a lot of effort? Success is not measured by results but by you attempting something with intentions of doing your best. By putting forth-full effort, heart and soul in life, we will be happier individuals.
You will not feel relived or happy with your work if you decide to not put forth enough effort. If you aspire to be great and follow your heart, those actions can bring you true happiness and peace as Emerson tells us in this essay. If you want to be great then you must trust yourself, which leads back to the whole self reliance aspect. Society does not know what makes you happy but only you know how make yourself truly happy.
What distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteSelfishness is the quality of lacking consideration for others and being completely conceded. Self-reliance is relying on one's own powers and resources, and being able to have your own thoughts, and not taking others thoughts. One who is self-reliant is not necessarily conceded, they just are able to think for themselves. Selfish people can be self-reliant, but in my mind they usually aren’t. They are conceded and want everything for themselves, and think they are the best. But, even though they are thinking highly of themselves, it does not mean that they are thinking for themselves. The differences are very big, to be self reliant means that you are doing and thinking what you think is right for everyone, and when you are selfish you are only thinking about what is right for yourself. It is much better to be self-reliant in my mind, by thinking for yourself you have your own idea of what is right, and this thought could benefit other people, while being selfish can only benefit no one. By being self reliant you could be efficient, the same cannot be said for the selfish
In my mind, Emerson could have only crossed the line by assuming the majority of the people aren’t being self reliant, and are following what everyone else says. He made the world out to be completely selfish, and says that they are not thinking for themselves. I think that there are a lot of people that are using their brain to think for themselves. But, other than that, no I do not see any reason why one should assume Emerson crossed the line. He was being self-reliant, and speaking his own mind. How could one cross the line by saying what they believe in?
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete“I hope that in these days we have heard the last of conformity and consistency. Let the words be gazette and ridiculous henceforward.”
This quote stood out to me, because I feel like I can almost relate. While it is not very deep, Emerson is saying that we need to mix things up in the world, we need to not keep doing and saying the same things. We need to add our own thoughts into situations, and we need to never hop onto the bandwagon. I feel like this applies to any situation, whether it is the government saying something and you have a different opinion, or your friends talking about something and you don’t agree. We need to speak any thought that we have, just so that there is some diversity in the conversation. I can distinctly remember situations where all of my friends were discussing a topic, and agreeing and I told them that I agreed even though I didn’t. Although it wasn’t about anything important, I wish I would’ve spoken up, just so that everyone wasn’t just saying the same thing. We need new routines, new ways of doing things, and new ideas to discuss.
This quote is, in my mind, what this essay is all about. Emerson is begging us, as humans, to use our brains and to think for ourselves. We need to be people who aren’t just going along with the most popular thought because we don’t want to be the only one who says it, or be people who do things the way everyone does them; just because that’s the way everyone is doing it. Emerson’s whole essay is about realizing the potential we have, and by saying that he hopes consistency is over, he is saying that he hopes we can come up with a whole new way of life, just because that’s the way we think we should do it.
What distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteBy definition self-reliance is reliance on oneself or one's own powers, resources, etc., while selfishness is being devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one's own interests, benefits, welfare, etc., regardless of others. Both look within but being selfish takes a more self-centered approach. A person can be self reliant, using the resources and gifts they have to the best of their ability while still being compassionate and considerate to others and their needs, while being selfish can change you to only care about your own welfare. These topics can be debated upon whether or not they are more alike but most tend to believe they are quite different; talking about whether someone uses their talents well or is only concerned about their talents and what they shall receive in life.
I did enjoy Ralph Emerson's essay discussing self-reliance, but I think there are parts where he crossed the line. Besides the fact that he used religion, which some people may be sensitive and have personal beliefs on, to prove his point he started to proceed with a self-centered approach midway through the essay. "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. 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." I will be the first to agree with not letting society and others beliefs change who you are, but when you begin to disregard others for maybe not agreeing with all your choices, that's when it changes.
Is Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteI strongly believe that majority of what Ralph Emerson talked about could go along with modern day ideas and lifestyles. Most of his essay talks about society and the way people would change their lives and mind sets from other thinkers and the thoughts and beliefs they preached about. He says, "A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages." He is talking about the ideas and feelings preached by poets at the time that people easily took in as their own. This basically says we should focus about what is really going on with ourselves rather than conform to the ideas that are elaborated on from other people. I think that is a big idea to focus on; worrying about what we are really going through rather than hearing other things and stories and adding them to our own.
Emerson also says "we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another." This has to do a lot with society today. Everyone is so scared to truly be themselves that when they do they may not always like the opinions other people have to make about them. This can can hurt and change the person, making them ashamed and scared to really express themselves. They begin to let peers and society's "norms" adapt into their lives and live their life the way they "should".
I agree that what Emerson wrote is compatible with Modern Age. He does talk about society and though society changes over time there is still parts that will never change. Us as humans will always want to be successful and will do whatever we think we have to do to get there. We like to say that we won't but we will because we are humans and humans are imperfect. It's easy to write about society in the past and it to still be relevant today because for some reason we don't learn from the mistakes of the past. We repeat them over and over again eve though we know it is wrong.
DeleteTake any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, — that is genius."
I believe this quote means that if a person chooses to simply go along with others opinions fails to show his or her individualism. This quote stood out to me mostly because almost without realizing it, I was doing the exact same thing for this very assignment. I found myself reading everyone's responses trying to and find some sort of inspiration in their opinion's rather than formulating a response based on my own personal opinions and this horrified me. Another reason this quote stood out to me was because I thought of how it so closely defined our society today. Being in the environment that we are all in now I find this ideal to very prominent. People usually choose to go with the popular opinion or choice rather than their own opinion. This show's how as a society we truly lack individualism. Not only that we seem to discourage individualism starting at a very young age. I believe this quote matched the context of the essay perfectly. I say this because the entire essay stresses the need to be self reliant and that you should trust yourself in all that you do. This meaning you should trust your thoughts, personal opinions and beliefs rather than simply being a mindless automaton and going along with the favored opinion of others. Throughout the essay Emerson stresses that we must be able to think for ourselves. And this ideal can be found in the context of that quote.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"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."
At this point in someone's life, he accepts what he has if it is good or bad, for he does not wish to strive to achieve success and attain greatness in himself. He must rise and persevere and not accept his average but strive to reach excellence. The good in the world won't come unless you will it to by hard work. Instead of envying others for their greatness, go and attain yours. The kernel of corn represents the person's success, it will not grow or blossom until he goes to work hard and give time and energy to this kernel's well being then it will grow from the soil in which was worked on to sow it.The whole essay centers on this point, believing in yourself and striving for success.
What distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteI think that self-reliance and selfishness are extremely different. Being independent and self-reliant isn't, unto itself, hurting anyone. Unless you, being yourself, naturally want to hurt people and are only held back from doing that by society's views about hurting people. I think the problem is the author is naturally a selfish person and so when he is showing his true self and being self-reliant, he is selfish. I think this is more of an individual thing. Everybody naturally is selfish and rude to an extent but some aren't as much so as others.
I think he is simply being himself and so he never crosses a line because there is none. He can be both self-reliant and selfish. They are not mutually exclusive, especially for him. Though I think there are definitely parts of the essay where I disagree with what he is saying because I view it as selfish, that is his choice as being self-reliant. I kind of have an issue when he talks about how he believes if people believe in the abolitionist movement they aren't paying proper attention to their family. But I rely on my own thoughts about it and he relies on his and that is the point he is trying to make after all.
Is Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteI don't really think that it is compatible with any age for anyone who isn't already well respected in their community. I think that it isn't a matter of time period but a matter of people's views on you. Okay, peers, you think that it is a wonderful thing to be yourself and not conform, correct? Now think of all our fellow classmates who you think are weird. I could list many, many people in our junior class who are ostracized because they are different. I'm not going to list them out here, but I'm sure you can think of at least a couple. They are being self-reliant just like this guy is advocating. If you truly believe in what he is saying then maybe you should think about that. Why do you view it as a good thing when someone like him says to be yourself but not when our fellow classmates do so? Not everyone is as well worded as he, but that does not make their views any less valid. If you are talking about how it is wonderful to rely on your own views and to make your own decisions but yet look down upon people that dress, look, speak, and act differently, then I suggest you reconsider your view. Are people truly being self-reliant when they are only different enough to be cool while still conforming to society?
What distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteI believe that self -reliance is much different form selfishness. Selfishness is taking only for yourself, and thinking only for yourself. While self-reliance is one helping themselves be self sufficient and to be happy. There is only one point in this essay where I believe that Emerson crossed the line between self-reliance and selfishness. When Emerson talks about one helping themselves and making sure they are happy before their own family. This I believe is crossing the line. Selfishness is self-reliance just exaggerated in my opinion. One should try to become self-reliable without affecting others, that is when the two merge into one.
Is Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteI believe that Emerson's view on life is compatible to an extent. One must rely one much more nowadays than back in Emerson's day. You don't need to create every chance and own everything just from your own accomplishments for it to worth something to you. It is acceptable to ask for help. Now Emerson's point that one who keeps an open mind about everything is one who will be successful is true. Also, Emerson's point on how adults free will in thought is being restrained by society is also true. The way others may think of us and judge us still greatly affects the way we act, and that is holding back what is possibly the next great idea. Emerson's view on one being respectful is also very compatible. I believe that one isn't happy or successful until he is respected by society and his peers, and one needs so be self-reliant to be respected in my opinion.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"But these impulses may be from below, not from above."
This quote really made me think about our culture and how teenagers often give into impulses from below, like alcohol, drugs, and sex. To me this really relates to religion, because if a teenager has given their heart to the one above and not below, then in my opinion they would be less likely to give into impulses from below. I think that self reliance has a lot to do with this concept as well, because teenagers often have the urge to do what everyone else is doing, such as those negative impulses and temptations stated above. If one has self reliance and does not need to go with the crowd, then they are probably also less likely to give into bad temptations and will be able to focus on the positive impulses from above.
Is Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Emerson's view on life is mostly compatible with the Modern Age. The main thing that really stood out to me when I read this prompt was a quote from the beginning of the essay. It was, "Do not think the youth is not powerful." In the modern age, the youth is probably the most powerful thing. Emerson was definitely correct in saying that the youth is powerful. I feel like we are the ones with the greatest impact on society, whether that be good or bad. In this way, Emerson's quote was very true and provided a great example for the given prompt.
Another quote that supports this prompt is, "It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it." Emerson was correct in saying that the youth are very powerful, but he is also correct in saying that we will encounter people that think they know what is better for us then we do ourselves. This made me think if parents and teachers, who are constantly telling us what to do. Even in Emerson's time, i'm sure there were authority figures who often told others what was best for them, which totally goes against the theme of Self Reliance. If all of us truly practiced self reliance, then why would we need other people telling us what to do? That would be like following a trend, not relying on yourself to make decisions.
In general, I do think that most of Emerson's view on life is compatible with the modern age, as explain in the two examples above.
•Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDeleteEmerson's quote, "Nothing can bring you peace, but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace, but the triumph of principles", relates the entire purpose of self-reliance and its moral values itself. The author consistently emphasizes, "man is supported on crutches, but lacks the muscles, to even stand up". This quote narrates how, as man continues to cling to the outside world, he is lacking the basic qualities in life, self-esteem, faith, trust, all summing it down to self-reliance. Coming back to the quote, "Nothing can bring you peace, but yourself"…reveals, that man can find true peace within himself, not by the external world. I definitely agree with this statement, because, man tries to find satisfaction in every piece of property, and possession he has, and is never satisfied. Man is ignorant, of the capabilities, he himself has, and always tries to base his ideas of other people's influence. People are becoming less self-innovative from the lack of self-esteem and independence. With the stead-fast faith in oneself, no one will have to worry, all the virtues will come along into play, and inner peace and contentment into the soul will be brought onwards.
Is Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion I do Believe Emerson's view on life is compatible with the modern age. I say this because throughout his essay he makes numerous examples of "threats to the self reliant person" that can be found easily in our society today. For example our education of the arts is based off of past techniques and styles we don't really encourage people to something new or create a something. Another prominent example can be seen in our society. As people we are so afraid of what other people will think we often (without realizing it) censor ourselves. This can clearly be seen in our morals/values and actions. Another point that can be made is that we more often that not simply go along with the popular opinion and are swayed easily by mob mentality. Our society devalues Individualism and does threaten the "Self Reliant Individual". This is why I believe that Emerson's view on life is compatible with the modern age.
I completely agree with everything you have to say here. I also believe that Emerson's view on life was compatible with the modern age. I used the media and the concept of advertisement to describe how our society has become so conform, and i believe that these factors share many traits or parallels with your examples of the education of the arts and the unrealized censorship of ourselves. I also agree with you that our society threatens the "Self Reliant Individual" because of its abundance of conformity within itself. The conformity within our society basically rules out and buries the few self reliant individuals that exist in our society, therefore threatening their existence.
Delete• Is Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDelete• The author's views on life and society, are definitely compatible with Modern society today. First of all, the author emphasizes, that society is always reliant on a group of high conformist individuals, customs, traditions, and laws. The author states that society believes it is not necessary for a man to express his own manhood, and independence. It is always assumed that man should be a conformist, fall into the swing of things, and not interfere with the flow of things, so that there will be no harm. What insights Emerson had collected about his society, is also reflected unto the Modern world today. But Emerson believes that man, with the right intentions, trust, faith in god, and himself, can impact the world tremendously. Famous well known leader from early society, modern society, and beyond, have been widely known to have a strong sense of self-reliance and independence, i.e) George Washington, Thomas Edison, Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, etc.These people have been able to influence his society, and our society today. Their contentment with themselves internally, and the aspiration to gain more strength in virtues, ultimately, like a domino effect, impacted the world that surrounded them, themselves. There are very few people who have developed themselves, to live the full extent of life, in early society, just as the same way modern society has existed. As Emerson has stated, society has always been continuing in a wave, up and down. Man has been holding himself back, but in times of need, he will have to develop his own skills, for accomplishment. Man will truly reach success, if he does his duty with his own goal for self- achievement, not always doing it for the grueling tasks of this world. As a society, we have to work hard, to change our ways, and focus on building ourselves internally, before we embark on the constant flow of world surrounding us.
What distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteSelf-reliance and selfishness can be very similar to each other but they can also be very different from each other. Self-reliance is pushing yourself to do something. On the other hand selfishness is doing something to make yourself look better and to get more attention. They can be similar in the fact that you are doing both of these things for yourself. Even if one is to make yourself standout or just to make you feel better it is still for yourself.
All throughout this essay Emerson seemed to be trying to get people to gain self-reliance. To push themselves and do stuff for themselves. Instead, he seemed to be doing this by showing us that the world isn't full of self-reliant people but is filled with selfish people. They don't want someone bringing them down so in return they tend to not care and not listen because being called selfish leads to not liking the writer. By calling someone else selfish, you in return are saying that you are better and higher than them. Because of that you are the selfish one instead of them. I believe Emerson is guilty of this through the entire essay.
Is Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteI believe Emerson's view on life is very compatible with the Modern Age. For one, throughout the essay he talked about how people would change to be someone they weren't. This is very true in the modern age. Some people are too scared to be themselves in fear that they will be judged or not accepted in return they act like someone different just to be accepted by the society they live in. We often times do this but then regret it later on when we realize that we got nowhere in acting like someone other than ourselves.
What distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteI think that even though self-reliance and selfishness are similar, there is one major difference between them. They both come from having one's own interest first, however, selfishness shows total disregard for other people and someone only cares exclusively about them self while self-reliance allows someone to put their own interest first without being a burden or inconvenience to others involved. I think Emerson was incorrect in saying that the world is filled with selfish people.
Is Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteI think that Emerson's view on life is completely compatible with the modern age. So many of his concepts still ring true at this time. Most significantly to me is I find that free will is hindered so much by society today because people value acceptance from society more than their own free will. Additionally I still agree that the most successful people are still those who always have an open mind.
I agree. Many people are obsessed with fitting in and being part of what is considered "normal" in society. Fads catch on very quickly because people want to fit in. Normal isn't always the best option however. Almost everyone goes to college and gets a degree. However, some of the most successful people of our time did not graduate from college, such as Mark Zuckerberg and Evan Williams (who dropped out of the University of Nebraska to found Blogger). I'm not saying that we should stop going to college, but rather that just because someone else is doing it, doesn't mean that it's the best option for you.
DeleteWhat distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteI believe that self- reliance is the ability to trust in one's self, be independent,and determine truths within one's life. But, this can quickly turn into selfishness when one loses the ability to learn from others . Many of the action, ideas, and values that Emerson calls for through out his essay Self Reliance can greatly improve our lives, but this is dependent upon how far we decide to take them. For example, Emerson practically demands that the reader stop seeking acceptance from society and those living in it, and I wholeheartedly agree that doing this can allow us a much more free and fulfilling life. On the other hand, towards the end of the essay, Emerson takes things to a much higher level saying, " 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?" When the idea of being independent is taken this far, it starts to take away other chances for knowledge. Though it may be harder to be an individual in a group, the collective thoughts of each member are very often greater than that of a sole contributor.
Additionally, Emerson presents the idea of isolating one's self in order to be your true self, and to reach a state not unlike enlightenment. I believe that the principle behind this is very important to remember, and that we need to be capable of being alone, and to even do so occasionally, to know who we are, and be able to answer many of the questions created simply by existence and the strange beauty of consciousness. The issue arises when this becomes a constant state of seclusion, as we have responsibilities that must be answered to, and reclusion may cause us to miss out on many opportunities for joy a growth when we don't partake in the company of other.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, 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."
This quote from the first page of Emerson's Self-Reliance article was what grabbed my attention when I began to read through it. He explains here that people must play the card they have been dealt. Questions arise in us all such as "Why am I living in Hilliard, OH instead of some poor village in Africa?". None of us can be certain why we are where we are. But I like Emerson's point of taking advantage of it and becoming something great. He mentions as well that we take our values and beliefs and form our perspectives on them. This effects how we see the world and the way we live. It fits into the rest of the article because in order to be self-reliant you must accept the life you have and strive to do your best in it.
What distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points In the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteSelfishness is greedy; when your only thinking of yourself in a situation. Self-reliance is when your relying on your own thoughts, ideas, ect. I like a quote Emerson wrote in his article, “For every thing that is given, something is taken”. This reminds me of selfishness because when we are thinking about ourselves we think of what we could gain from a situation. Self-reliance, however could be when you have a group project but the other people in your group are not pulling their weight. You must be self-reliant and in order to get a good grade in this situation. Emerson says in his article “Discontent is the want of self-reliance”, when we are discontent with the people around us we begin relying on ourselves. I think Emerson did a good job explaining the difference between self-reliance and selfishness.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDeletePersonally, I found the quote, "Travelling is a fools paradise," to be very interesting. I understand completely what Emerson is communicating here, but I was kind of expecting his opinion to be different. What Emerson was warning the reader against was "[carrying] ruins to ruins," meaning when we travel, we cannot expect that all of our troubles will just be left behind. He proceeds to talk about expecting to be "intoxicated with beauty" when we go somewhere grand and new, but this can not happen when we are trying to distract ourselves from issues we attempted so futilely to run away from. It is the same phenomenon as breaking into a run when we hurt ourselves or fall. We expect that if we just keep running, the problem won't catch up to us, even though in reality, we never escape it, and it remains like a weight on our back.
In truth, this perspective does align with the rest of essay, as Emerson is simply saying to continue to look within and depend on ourselves and nothing else for peace and answers. My initial confusion was due to the current day impression society has, that should we travel the world, we will come out much wiser. I believe that this can be true, but we must keep Emerson's cautioning in mind, because we can not flee from our issues for ever, or expect that the mountains, pyramid, or any other location to understanding the complications of our lives any better than us. The key to this idea of becoming enlightened through exploring the world, is to appreciate the history and lessons each location has to teach us, and to use these things to discover truths on our within ourselves.
I agree with 97.8% of this. I'd like to elaborate on the escaping one's troubles idea. The thing with traveling is that it's much less frowned upon as opposed to drinking your sorrows away, however I think it's natural to run from your mistakes. The combination of shame and fear of retribution would cause mostly anyone to at least consider hiding. Some resort to drinking to escape their mistakes, while those who travels are weighed by their conscience. Not the say that traveling is wrong, you can still learn from your travels and even find a way to not only fix your wrong doings but to also forgive oneself.
DeleteI think to be completely self reliant you also have to love yourself, which you can't do if you are plagued with a messy past, thus travelling could help relieve a burden. Although the act of travelling does not grant you pardon you often can discover what you were fleeing and take the necessary steps to right a wrong.
I agree with your view on this Emerson quote. Wherever you go, your problems follow. People go traveling to different lands to go searching for their true self or reach their spiritual peak, however in reality, you cant run from yourself. I believe that a persons true self is always residing inside them. It depends on a certain event or situation, extremely stressful or life altering, that will bring out a persons true identity.
DeleteIs Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteEven though Emerson wrote this essay years ago many thing he wrote are still relevant in society today. He wrote about conformity in society. That is still relevant in our society today. Us as humans want to be successful and if us conforming to society will help then thats what we will do. He talks about nature and how we take that fortune for granted. In society we sit inside at a desk and try to become successful but there is this natural fortune that is just outside. Even though this essay was written a long time ago it still is relevant to society.
Unlike common beliefs, self-reliance and selfishness are two entirely separate entities; in fact, selfishness is the antithesis of self-reliance. Self-reliance is the notion of acting upon one's values, despite what is predisposed to the population as acceptable. Selfishness, conversely, is acting upon one's whims and fear of discomfort, despite inherent desire of self-fulfillment. Emerson, though notable in his eloquence and general morale, insinuates his own selfishness within his text. In his work, he states "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? ", thus declaring his own Social-Darwinism and conservatism. Though the obvious argument is, in fact, that he was acting upon his own morals, however he created such morals in selfishness's sake, and thus any altruism is made void.
ReplyDeleteDespite some ethical shortcomings, I found the work of Emerson deeply profound. In relation to self-reliance, Emerson speaks of self-acceptance, which without such the former would not exist. He states that "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", and no such notion prior has moved me as this. The common misconception, unfortunately, is that self-acceptance is synonymous with complacency; however, the two are neither codependent nor does one supersede the other. It is impartial that one can work from where he or she is, and not from where he or she endeavors to be. So often does man see the moon, alas, for his feet be grounded, he sees pursuing it as futile. One must have a foundation of faith in his or herself, for without such self-reliance and fulfillment cannot be established, which is so judiciously expounded in the text of Emerson; as one acquires self-acceptance, then one can achieve self-reliance, and all the more significant, self-empowerment.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"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."
This quote really struck me because it reminds me that we live a world so bombarded by outside influence that we forget that everything we think in our head is just as real as what we see. I think Emerson is trying to say that no matter what we hear about ourselves, what we believe our selves to be is the truth. If you constantly punish yourself for a mistake you made then you'll always be marked by that. Only by forgiving yourself and moving on can you be free. Basically, haters gon' hate, but don't let that stop you. The judgement of others holds no ground, it's what you believe.
In context of the essay this quote is encouraging you to not take what other's might think to heart. Emmy goes on to say that if he does wrongful acts then he has done wrongful acts, but the judgements of others means nothing. Really, if you think it's okay to steal a loaf of bread then you're not guilty of a wrong doing since it's okay to your conscience. However, you have to truly believe this is the case or you'll be ridden with guilt.
What distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteThere is a difference between self-reliance and selfishness. Many people can perceive them as the same thing but they aren't. To be self-reliant you use your own power and you don't need anyone else. If you are selfish you lack consideration of others and you only are concerned with yourself. The distinguishing factor between the two is the persons motive. If your doing it just to benefit yourself then you are being selfish not self-reliant.
There is one point when i believe that Emerson crossed the line between self-reliance and selfishness. It was when he was talking about having to make yourself happy before you make your family happy. Shouldn't his happiness be effected by his family's? If you are selfish you put yourself before other; but with your family it should be the other way. Their happiness should correlate to yours.
What distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteI think of self-reliance as relying on yourself and putting your needs above others, to a certain extent. Selfishness is a disregard of others, that not only your needs but your wants always come before theirs. I do not think that Emerson necessarily crosses this line during his essay, but rather he defines it more clearly for the reader to see. He encourages us to not conform just because it appears to be what is the standard. This isn't being selfish, but rather staying true to yourself.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDeleteThe quote from this essay I chose was "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." Emerson is saying that we resent and fear our past actions because that is how others decide what kind of person we are, and its true. Our past and current actions define us, and that is the only standard we have for measuring each other.
I agree with what you are saying and I was going to chose this quote but changed my mind. I believe that he is also saying while we do resent our pasts but he says what scares us is our consistency, and what I get from that is the feeling of history always repeating itself and knowing that we resent our past as well as knowing our consistency leaves us to not be able to have a sense of self trust.
DeleteWhat distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteMany people do not understand the difference between being self-reliant and being selfish, but they are both completely conceptually different. Self- Reliance is when a person takes care of oneself both spiritually and financially without relying on society to mold, guide, and care for him. After the individual takes care of oneself, then he can strive to care for his family and others in his life. This is accomplished through his understanding of God, himself, motivation, and hard work. However, selfishness is when a person only cares about oneself and his ability to use society to advance his situation. The individual loses his sense of self as he conforms to societal norms.
In Emerson’s essay, he often insinuates that people are selfish. He stresses this through societal pressures and conformity. However, shared laws and their enforcement are just one example that is necessary for large groups or individuals to live together; otherwise, chaos would ensue. I believe that Emerson crosses a line when he states that society brings out only the evil in people; but society can help form a person to become self-reliant.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDeleteA man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his.
This particular quote from Emerson struck me. This quote had an impact on me because of the way it is worded. This quote was one that was difficult for me to determine exactly what Emerson was trying to say. I concluded that it means that one should be aware of and value their own thoughts. This ability is not only limited to "bards and sages"; everyone should have the ability to render the importance of their own thoughts.
This quote is relevant to the essay because it describes those who are self reliant. Those who are self reliant have the ability to grasp their own thoughts and value their importance for what they are. Those who are not self reliant disregard their own thoughts and replace them with the thoughts of others. They cannot realize the significance of their thoughts, and therefore should not be considered self reliant.
Is Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteYes, I believe that Emerson's view of life is compatible with the Modern Age, in fact I believe that his view on life is compatible with any age. Emerson speaks of self reliance and conformity, basically two antonyms of one another, these two themes can be applied to any age in history, but they can be greatly associated with today's day and age because of the society we live in. We live in a society that almost completely revolves around the media. What is the media you may ask: a enormous collection of other people's ideas that punches you in the face everywhere you go. For example every time you turn on the TV, browse the internet, walk down the street, or listen to the radio; you have exposed yourself to advertisements. Advertisements can greatly influence other people's thoughts because everyone wants to have a certain thing or be the same, which is the exact definition of conformity. The media has a large impact on conformity in our society, which in turn also has an opposite impact on self reliance in our society. In conclusion, the media is proof that Emerson's take on life is valid within today's modern society.
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ReplyDeleteTake any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay? ". I affect to be intoxicated with sights and suggestions, but I am not intoxicated. My giant goes with me wherever I go."
ReplyDeleteDespite the complexity and maturity of Emerson's writing in his essay, Self Reliance, I was immediately able to understand and relate to this specific quote. I think Emerson is speaking for a multitude of people who are currently suffering from mental disorders such as depression or anxiety, or are dealing with a particularly rough patch in their life, or have so in the past. Although these people are each going through differentiating struggles, they are all alike in the idea of trying to find an escape from the pain in their everyday lives. For Emerson, this was traveling. He imagined that if he could escape the place where he felt trapped by such thoughts, they would simply disappear. However, the reality of the situation is that these demonic thoughts, ideas, and memories are often times a disease that exists in our brain and truly has no physical escape. Emerson shows us that it does not matter how much we may have changed on the outside, if we have not yet accepted ourselves on the inside we will not find happiness. For example, if you cannot buy a new house, you should rearrange your furniture, that will make everything seem fresh and new, right? No, despite the new layout, each piece of furniture is just as tarnished, scratched, and run down as it was before. Furthermore, an attempt to run away from, change, or forget about our problems will not solve them. We will only find inner peace by accepting ourselves as we are and moving forward.
What distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross the line?
ReplyDeleteSelf-Reliance is the act of believing in one's own power, capabilities, and independence, Whereas selfishness is the act of pursuing one’s own desires or using others to benefit one’s self. In my opinion, Emerson does not cross the line of self-reliance into selfishness duing any point of his essay. Mid-Essay, Emerson states “live no longer to the expectation of these deceived and deceiving people with whom we converse”. Emerson’s Self-Reliance essay focus solely on persuading the reader to believe in his own self rather than the person society set out to make them.
Is Emerson’s view on life compatible with the modern age? Explain.
ReplyDeleteYes, Emerson’s view on life is compatible with the modern age. One of Emerson’s main focuses in his essay is to persuade one from becoming a conformist and to think independently. The idea of ‘being an individual’ is popular in these days, people these days want to stand out. It is especially common among teenagers and young adults, due to habits of rebelling or the lack of knowing ones main focus in life. As Emerson has said himself in his essay, “Our minds travel when our bodies are forced to stay at home”.
Is Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteI believe that Emerson’s distinct outlooks on society are compatible in our everyday lives. Emerson’s main goal in his essay was to motivate people to become self reliant, which is a way of living that has no expiration. The young, single mother raising her children alone, or the homosexuals fighting for their rights, are both prime examples of people who have denied societal norms in order to fulfill what they believe is best for them. In today’s society, many people would disapprove of the choices they have made to live this way because most of us lead lives relying on things other than our own judgement. We rely upon one another to comfort us, to be our anchor, our lifeline, our right hand man, or our crutch in times of struggle. Emerson’s idea of self reliance would benefit today's society just as much as it would have in his time. Often times, it takes the outcasts of whom we question to see that those who are self reliant will lead successful lives; furthermore, I do believe that Emerson’s views on life may be applied to the Modern Age successfully.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"We are afraid of truth, afraid of fortune, afraid of death, and afraid of each other."
I believe that he is saying all of mankind is afraid and afraid of everything, living in a constant state of fear and worry. Living every moment knowing the next could be their last or knowing that in an instant the fate of their lives could be so greatly altered. This strikes that fear into mankind not letting them trust the world they live in and only relying on themselves to be a constant in their lives. Emily Dickinson once said "To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else" and I believe this ties into what Emerson was saying about being afraid, people worry and stress so often over things that will be so irrelevant in ten years they don't get to enjoy their time. Thats all I have to say about that.
What distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteself-reliance and selfishness are commonly mistaken as similar but are in fact the opposite. Self-reliance involves doing things on your own. It involves pride and self-esteem. Selfishness focuses on ones own interests. It can also be rubbed off as rude and uncaring.
Emerson was trying to persuade the reader to be more self-reliant. He did so by saying to push your self and to not be afraid to do things by your self. He also implied that the world is full of selfish people. Does this mean Emerson is selfish himself?
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"Every true man is a cause, a country, and an age; requires infinite spaces and numbers and time fully to accomplish his design".
I believe the author is trying to say that every man is different and has a unique purpose in life. Every man has a right to choose what to accomplish and will spend the entirety of his life in pursuit of his goals. Once he reaches this point in his life, he has reached his full potential, therefore manifesting what the author defines as his "design".
This quote fits into the context of the essay by identifying both the diversity of man as well as the purpose of his life. As taken from the widely religious tone of the essay, this may have the outlook of how every man has time to become his greatest self to fulfill God's plan.
Is Emerson's view on life compatible with the Modern Age? Explain
ReplyDeleteI think that Emerson's view on life in a Modern Age is pretty close to accurate. One reason i think this is when he starts to talk about society and the role it takes in peoples lives. How society controls us and shapes us into what it wants us to be. Another reason I think hes right is when he talks about how people act in modern day. He says that people are rude and basically self absorbed, which is exactly what people are now of days. I couldn't have put it any better way myself. Lastly he talks about how different regions make us the world and how people pick and choose what they want to believe in. There are so many differently religions how do people know which one is necessarily true. People just believe in what they believe to be right and decide how to act, people to hang out with, and how we perceive different people, which is exactly what Emerson was saying in his article.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"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"
This quote from the essay had a powerful impact on me. It made me truly realize what one persons words could truly do to you. I think Emerson meant that the words you choose to say or describe other people affect different people in different ways and you have to choose your words wisely. It fits in with the overall essay by saying that to be self reliant we need to be more careful to not "step on others toes" and stick by our own instincts.
Take any memorable quote from the essay and expand upon it. What do you think he means? How does it fit within the context of the overall essay?
ReplyDelete"We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents"
Emerson is saying that people don't fully express who we are. We are afraid to let go and completely be who we are in fear of being judged. This relates to Emerson's article because of his distaste for conformity. By not fully expressing yourself, you are limiting who you really are for the fear of being judged. The idea of being different scares us because everyone we are always told to try to fit in, so we try to conform to the standards and hide part of ourselves away
What distinguishes self-reliance from selfishness? Do you see any points in the essay where Emerson seems to cross this line?
ReplyDeleteTo me, self-reliance and selfishness are two completely different things. Being self-reliant means you depend on your own powers and abilities to accomplish things. Being selfish is putting yourself and your needs before anyone elses. Being selfish, you take from others and don't necessarily provide for yourself.
I believe that Emerson crosses the line between self-reliance and selfishness in his essay. " I shun father and mother and wife and brother, when my genius calls me." This quote stood out to me while i was reading. Being self-reliant doesn't have the need to cut everyone off and disregard their feelings. The quote above is an example of Emerson putting his need before all else, demonstrating selfishness
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ReplyDelete