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Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essays, First Series[1841]
Self-Reliance

In many ways, this is as much a cultural/intellectual declaration of independence as it is an exhortation

to believe in yourself.

Publication :
Published first in 1841 in Essays and then in the 1847 revised edition of Essays, "Self-Reliance" took shape over a
long period of time.

Source :
 journals of his thoughts and actions, far back as 1832
 lectures he delivered between 1836 and 1839.
1st publication :
 The first edition of the essay bore three epigraphs: a Latin line : "Do not seek outside yourself"
 Beaumont and Fletcher's Honest Man's Fortune;
 All three epigraphs stress the necessity of relying on oneself for knowledge and guidance.
The essay has three major divisions:
 the importance of self-reliance (paragraphs 1-17)
 self-reliance and the individual (paragraphs 18-32)
 self-reliance and society (paragraphs 33-50)

Page 1 of 46
The importance of self-reliance (paragraphs 1-17)
Text
"Ne t e quæsiveris extra."
"Man is his own star; and the soul that can
Render an honest and a perfect man,
Commands all light, all influence, all fate;
Nothing to him falls early or too late.
Our acts our angels are, or good or ill,
Our fatal shadows that walk by us still."
Epilogue to Beaumont and Fletcher's The Honest
Man's Fortune
Cast the bantling on the rocks,
Suckle him with the she-wolf's teat"
Wintered [keep or feed (plants or cattle) during winter.]
with the hawk and fox,
Power and speed be hands and feet.
Page 2 of 46
Notes
seek not yourself from outside yourself - Latin phrase
Epilogue to Beaumont and Fletcher's Honest Man's
Fortune
[Note : The Honest Man's Fortune is a Jacobean era
stage play, a tragicomedy written by Nathan Field,
John Fletcher, and Philip Massinger. 1647]
Children depend on adults for many things, and this dependence encompasses more
than material needs. Certain intangible goods—education, for example—are just as
crucial to their well-being. These observations are hardly provocative, and any
sustained commentary on human society that wants to be taken seriously is unlikely
to deny this dependence. In this connection, consider the second of Ralph Waldo
Emerson’s two epigraphs to his essay “Self-Reliance” (1841):
Cast the bantling on the rocks,
Suckle him with the she-wolf’s teat;
Wintered with the hawk and fox,
Power and speed be hands and feet.
The irony of these lines serves several purposes. It points to the limits of self-
reliance, perhaps as a way of tempering the enthusiasm of those readers well
disposed to the essay. At the same time, the Besides being dependent on adults,
children are impressionable. By definition, a child is underdeveloped in several ways:
physically, mentally, morally, and emotionally. To say that an adult is mentally,
morally, or emotionally underdeveloped often implies that he or she is also
impressionable. In adults, such impressionability is considered regrettable (and
sometimes a grave misfortune), but with respect to children, it is deemed
unexceptional or natural. epigraph forestalls possible criticisms. Without it, some
readers might complain that Emerson has forgotten about children and family life, an
otherwise startling omission in a disquisition about the individual’s relationship to
society.
These two themes are not unrelated. For good and for bad, a child’s
impressionability is in some ways linked to his or her dependence on adults.
Nearly two hundred years before Emerson’s “Self-Reliance,” the Dutch artist Jan
Steen (1626–1679) completed a semihumorous painting, The Way You Hear It Is the
Way You Sing It. Like many Dutch works of the seventeenth century, it is rich in
symbolism, though what the painting says about moral education, human appetites,
and the impressionability of the young is clear.
Nearly two hundred years before Emerson’s “Self-Reliance,” the Dutch artist Jan
Steen (1626–1679) completed a semihumorous painting, The Way You Hear It Is the
Way You Sing It. Like many Dutch works of the seventeenth century, it is rich in
symbolism, though what the painting says about moral education, human appetites,
 and the impressionability of the young is clear.

The painting depicts a family of three generations gathered for the festival of Twelfth
Night. The grandfather of the family, a rotund man who has been crowned king of
the festival, sits at the head of a small table set with holiday fare. Above the
grandfather, an uncaged parrot, symbolizing mimicry, rests on its perch. The
grandfather’s wife sits across from him at the table and reads a nursery rhyme of the
same title as the painting. Two younger women, perhaps the couple’s daughters, sit
between the grandfather and grandmother. The younger woman in the background
has a baby in her lap. The younger woman in the foreground, only slightly less
corpulent than the grandfather, holds a large goblet, being filled with the same liquid
that seemingly caused her drunkenness. A beaker of this liquid stands on the
windowsill.

Away from the table, on the right side of the painting, an apparently tipsy man
stands near two boys and an adolescent playing the bagpipes. Thought by some
scholars to be Steen, the man is showing the older of the two boys how to smoke a
long and slender pipe; the younger boy awaits instruction. Behind him, the
adolescent with the bagpipes plays a tune. His face appears flush, a detail whose
meaning can be appreciated in light of the sexual innuendo associated with the
Dutch word for “pipe.

Despite the passage of many years, Emerson’s epigraph and Steen’s painting still
provide two useful points of departure for discussing the welfare of children in the
modern world. Children are dependent, Emerson (indirectly) concedes, and some
persons must care for them. Steen’s painting reminds us that young persons, more
than any others, do not on bread alone subsist.

These two points may be uncontroversial, but controversy can quickly arise when we
discuss what the dependence and impressionability of children should mean for
public policy. Consider the following accounts, far removed from Steen’s playful wit
and Emerson’s delicate irony.

Paragraph- 01
I read the other day some verses written by an eminent
painter which were original and not conventional. The
soul always hears an admonition in such lines, let the
subject be what it may. The sentiment they instill is of
more value than any thought they may contain. To
believe our own thought, to believe that what is true for
you in your private heart is true for all men, -- that is
genius. Speak your latent conviction, and it shall be the
 Emerson mentions it to stress how one must live a life of
universal sense; for the inmost in due time becomes the non-conformity in its entirety.
outmost,--and our first thought, is rendered back to us
by the trumpets of the Last Judgment. Familiar as the Moses: According to the Old Testament, Moses was a Hebrew
voice of the mind is to each, the highest merit we ascribe raised by the Egyptian royal family. He fled Egypt after killing an
Page 3 of 46
to Moses, Plato, and Milton is, that they set at naught Egyptian slavemaster for murdering a Hebrew. After fleeing Egypt
books and traditions, and spoke not what men but what he encountered God on Mount Horeb, who told him he must return
to Egypt to save the Israelites from slavery. He led the Israelites for
they thought. A man should learn to detect and watch 40 years through the desert and died within sight of the Promised
that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from Land. He is the most important prophet in Judaism and a prominent
within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards prophet in Islam, Christianity, and a number of other faiths.
and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought,
because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize
majesty (prestige/ মহত্ত্ব) . Great works of art have no
more affecting lesson for us than this. They teach us to
abide by our spontaneous impression with good-
humored inflexibility then most when the whole cry of
voices is on the other side. Else, to-morrow a stranger
will say with masterly good sense precisely what we
have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced
to take with shame our own opinion from another.

Paragraph-02
There is a time in every man's education when he arrives
at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation
is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse,
as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of
good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but
through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is
given to him to till. The power which resides in him is
new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which
he can do, nor does he know until he has tried. Not for
nothing one face, one character, one fact, makes
much impression on him, and another none. This
sculpture in the memory is not without preëstablished
harmony. The eye was placed where one ray should fall,
that it might testify of that particular ray. We but half
express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine
idea which each of us represents. It may be safely
trusted as proportionate and of good issues, so it be
faithfully imparted, but God will not have his work
made manifest by cowards. A man is relieved and gay
when he has put his heart into his work and done his
best; but what he has said or done otherwise, shall give

Page 4 of 46
him no peace. It is a deliverance which does not deliver.
In the attempt his genius deserts him; no muse (think)
befriends; no invention, no hope.

Paragraph- 03
Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. iron string :
Accept the place the divine providence has found for  The "iron string" is a metaphor for trusting one's own
you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection childlikeinstincts and intuitions in finding a path through life.
of events. Great men have always done so, and confided  unspoiled by selfish needs — yet mature.
themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying
their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was advancing on Chaos and the Dark
seated at their heart, working through their hands,  classical myth of bringing order out of chaos
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.

Paragraph- 04
What pretty oracles nature yields us on this text, in the Although we might question his characterizing the self-esteemed
face and behaviour of children, babes, and even brutes! individual as childlike, Emerson maintains that children provide
models of self-reliant behavior because they are too young to be
That divided and rebel mind, that distrust of a sentiment cynical, hesitant, or hypocritical. He draws an analogy between boys
because our arithmetic has computed the strength and and the idealized individual: Both are masters of self-reliance
means opposed to our purpose, these have not. Their because they apply their own standards to all they see, and because
mind being whole, their eye is as yet unconquered, and their loyalties cannot be coerced. This rebellious individualism
when we look in their faces, we are disconcerted. contrasts with the attitude of cautious adults, who, because they are
overly concerned with reputation, approval, and the opinion of
Infancy conforms to nobody: all conform to it, so that others, are always hesitant or unsure; consequently, adults have great
one babe commonly makes four or five out of the difficulty acting spontaneously or genuinely.
adults who prattle (imitate) 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

Page 5 of 46
bold, then, he will know how to make us seniors very
unnecessary.

Paragraph- 05
The nonchalance (callousness) of boys who are sure of a Pit or yard: The central space uncovered by a roof and surrounded
dinner, and would disdain as much as a lord to do or say by tiers of roofed galleries
aught to conciliate one, is the healthy attitude of human
nature. A boy is in the parlour (বৈঠকখানা) what the pit
is in the playhouse; independent, irresponsible,
looking out from his corner on such people and facts
as pass by, he tries and sentences them on their
merits, in the swift, summary way of boys, as good,
bad, interesting, silly, eloquent, troublesome. He
cumbers (বাধা সৃষ্টি করা) himself never about
consequences, about interests: he gives an independent,
genuine verdict. You must court (অনুগ্রহ প্রার্থনা করা)
him: he does not court you. But the man is, as it were,
clapped into jail by his consciousness. As soon as he has
once acted or spoken with eclat (হাঁকড়ানো), he is a
committed person, watched by the sympathy or the The process of so-called "maturing" becomes a process of
hatred of hundreds, whose affections must now enter into conforming that Emerson challenges. 
his account. There is no Lethe for this. Ah, that he could
pass again into his neutrality! Who can thus avoid all LETHE  
pledges, and having observed, observe again from the
same unaffected, unbiased, unbribable, unaffrighted (not
worried) innocence, must always be formidable (দুর্ধর্ষ). He
would utter opinions on all passing affairs, which being
seen to be not private, but necessary, would sink like
darts into the ear of men, and put them in fear.

Paragraph-06
These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they  The virtue in most request is conformity.
grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world.
 Self-reliance is its aversion.
Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the
manhood of every one of its members. Society is a
joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for
the better securing of his bread to each shareholder,
to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The
Page 6 of 46
virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is
its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names
and customs.

Paragraph-07
Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He
who would gather immortal palms must not be
hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it
be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of
your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall
have the suffrage (ভোটাধিকারের) of the world. I remember
gather immortal palms :
 By the word, "palms," Emerson is referring to the palm leaf
or laurel branch, which in ancient times was used by people
to celebrate a victory or occasion for rejoicing. 
 palm-waving welcome that Jesus received when he entered
Jerusalem on what is now celebrated as Palm Sunday.

an answer which when quite young I was prompted to Emerson had expressed his lack of interest in keeping up religious
make to a valued adviser, who was wont to importune me traditions for tradition's sake.
with the dear old doctrines of the church. On my saying,
What have I to do with the sacredness of traditions, if Of course, Emerson doesn't believe his impulses come from the
Devil, or that he follows the Devil. On the contrary, his argument is
I live wholly from within? my friend suggested,--"But about rejecting blind obedience to rules. Trusting one's higher
these impulses may be from below, not from above." I intuitions about what is right will lead to the discovery of true
replied, "They do not seem to me to be such; but if I am goodness.
the Devil's child, I will live then from the Devil." No law
can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad
are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the
only right is what is after my constitution, the only
wrong what is against it. A man is to carry himself in the
presence of all opposition, as if every thing were titular
(শিরোনাম) and ephemeral (অল্পক্ষণস্থায়ী) but he. I am
The non-conformist in Emerson rejects many of society's moral
ashamed to think how easily we capitulate (ব্যর্থতাকে sentiments. For example, he claims that an abolitionist should
worry more about his or her own family and community at home
মূলধন) to badges and names, to large societies and dead than about "black folk a thousand miles off," and he chides people
institutions. Every decent and well-spoken individual who give money to the poor. "Are they my poor?" he asks. He
affects and sways me more than is right. I ought to go refuses to support morality through donations to organizations rather
upright and vital, and speak the rude truth in all ways. If than directly to individuals. The concrete act of charity, in other
words, is real and superior to abstract or theoretical morality.
malice and vanity wear the coat of philanthropy, shall
that pass? If an angry bigot assumes this bountiful
cause of Abolition, and comes to me with his last news
from Barbadoes (West Indies), why should I not say to
him, 'Go love thy infant; love thy wood-chopper: be
Page 7 of 46
good-natured and modest: have that grace; and never
varnish your hard, uncharitable ambition with this
incredible tenderness for black folk a thousand miles
off. Thy love afar is spite (nastiness) at home.' Rough
and graceless would be such greeting, but truth is
handsomer than the affectation of love. Your goodness
must have some edge to it,--else it is none. The doctrine
of hatred must be preached as the counteraction of
the doctrine of love when that pules and whines
(complains). I shun father and mother and wife and
brother, when my genius calls me. I would write on the
lintels of the door-post, Whim. I hope it is somewhat
better than whim at last, but we cannot spend the day in
explanation. Expect me not to show cause why I seek or
why I exclude company. Then, again, do not tell me, as a
good man did to-day, of my obligation to put all poor
men in good situations. Are they my poor? I tell thee,
thou foolish philanthropist, that I grudge the dollar, the
dime, the cent, I give to such men as do not belong to me
and to whom I do not belong. There is a class of persons
to whom by all spiritual affinity I am bought and sold;
for them I will go to prison, if need be; but your
miscellaneous popular charities; the education at college
of fools; the building of meeting-houses to the vain end
to which many now stand; alms to sots; and the thousand
fold Relief Societies;--though I confess with shame I
sometimes succumb and give the dollar, it is a wicked
Dollar which by and by I shall have the manhood to
withhold.

Paragraph-08
Virtues are, in the popular estimate, rather the exception
than the rule. There is the man and his virtues. Men do
what is called a good action, as some piece of courage or
charity, much as they would pay a fine in expiation
(penance) of daily non-appearance on parade. Their
works are done as an apology (excuse) or extenuation
(justification) of their living in the world,--as invalids

Page 8 of 46
(patients) and the insane pay a high board. Their
virtues are penances (অনুতাপ). I do not wish to expiate
(মোচন), but to live. My life is for itself and not for a
spectacle. I much prefer that it should be of a lower
strain (stress free), so it be genuine and equal, than that
it should be glittering and unsteady. I wish it to be sound
and sweet, and not to need diet and bleeding. I ask
primary evidence that you are a man, and refuse this
appeal from the man to his actions. I know that for
myself it makes no difference whether I do or forbear
those actions which are reckoned excellent. I cannot
consent to pay for a privilege (অধিকার) intrinsic right.
Few and mean as my gifts may be, I actually am, and do
not need for my own assurance or the assurance of my
fellows any secondary testimony.

Paragparph-09
What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the
people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in
intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction
between greatness and meanness. It is the harder,
because you will always find those who think they
know what is your duty better than you know it. It is
easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is
easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is
he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect
sweetness the independence of solitude.
In a subdued, even gentle voice, Emerson states that it is better to
live truly and obscurely than to have one's goodness extolled in
public. It makes no difference to him whether his actions are praised
or ignored. The important thing is to act independently: "What I
must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think . . . the
great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect
sweetness the independence of solitude." Note that Emerson
contrasts the individual to society — "the crowd" — but does not
advocate the individual's physically withdrawing from other people.
There is a difference between enjoying solitude and being a
social hermit.

Paragraph-10
The objection to conforming to usages that have
become dead to you is, that it scatters your force. It loses
your time and blurs the impression of your character. If
you maintain a dead church, contribute to a dead
Bible-society, vote with a great party either for the
government or against it, spread your table like base
housekeepers,--under all these screens I have
difficulty to detect the precise man you are. And, of
course, so much force is withdrawn from your proper
Page 9 of 46
Outlining his reasons for objecting to conformity, Emerson
asserts that acquiescing (submitting) to public opinion wastes a
person's life. Those around you never get to know your real
personality. Even worse, the time spent maintaining allegiances to
"communities of opinion" saps (drains) the energy needed in the
vital act of creation — the most important activity in our lives —
and distracts us from making any unique contribution to society.
Conformity corrupts with a falseness that pervades our lives and our
every action: ". . . every truth is not quite true." Finally, followers of
public opinion are recognized as hypocrites even by the
awkwardness and falsity of their facial expressions.
life. But do your work, and I shall know you. Do your
work, and you shall reinforce yourself. A man must
consider what a blindman's-buff ( অনাবৃত চর্ম) is this
game of conformity. If I know your sect, I anticipate
your argument. I hear a preacher announce for his text
and topic the expediency of one of the institutions of his
church. Do I not know beforehand that not possibly can
he say a new and spontaneous word? Do I not know that,
with all this ostentation (showing) of examining the
grounds of the institution, he will do no such thing? Do I
not know that he is pledged to himself not to look but at
one side,--the permitted side, not as a man, but as a
parish minister? He is a retained (রাখা) attorney, and
these airs of the bench are the emptiest affectation. Well,
most men have bound their eyes with one or another
handkerchief, and attached themselves to some one of
these communities of opinion. This conformity makes
them not false in a few particulars, authors of a few lies,
but false in all particulars. Their every truth is not quite
true. Their two is not the real two, their four not the
real four; so that every word they say chagrins
(disappoint) us, and we know not where to begin to
set them right. Meantime nature is not slow to equip
us in the prison-uniform of the party to which we
adhere. We come to wear one cut of face and figure,
and acquire by degrees the gentlest asinine (foolish)
expression. There is a mortifying experience in
particular, which does not fail to wreak itself also in the
general history; I mean "the foolish face of praise," the
forced smile which we put on in company where we do
not feel at ease in answer to conversation which does not
interest us. The muscles, not spontaneously moved, but
moved by a low usurping wilfulness, grow tight about
the outline of the face with the most disagreeable
sensation.

Paragrapg-11
For nonconformity the world whips you with its Shifting the discussion to how the ideal individual is treated,
Emerson notes two enemies of the independent thinker: society's
Page 10 of 46
displeasure. And therefore a man must know how to disapproval or scorn, and the individual's own sense of consistency.
estimate a sour face. The by-standers look askance on Consistency becomes a major theme in the discussion as he shows
how it restrains independence and growth.
him in the public street or in the friend's parlour. If this
aversation had its origin in contempt and resistance like
his own, he might well go home with a sad countenance;
but the sour faces of the multitude, like their sweet faces,
have no deep cause, but are put on and off as the wind
blows and a newspaper directs. Yet is the discontent of
the multitude more formidable (challenging) than Although the scorn of "the cultivated classes" is unpleasant, it is,
that of the senate and the college. It is easy enough for according to Emerson, relatively easy to ignore because it tends to
a firm man who knows the world to brook the rage of the be polite. However, the outrage of the masses is another matter; only
cultivated classes. Their rage is decorous and prudent, the unusually independent person can stand firmly against the rancor
of the whole of society.
for they are timid as being very vulnerable
themselves. But when to their feminine rage the
indignation (annoyance) of the people is added, when
the ignorant and the poor are aroused, when the
unintelligent brute force that lies at the bottom of
society is made to growl and mow, it needs the habit
of magnanimity and religion to treat it godlike as a
trifle of no concernment.

Paragraph-12
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.

Paragpraph-13
But why should you keep your head over your shoulder?
Why drag about this corpse of your memory, lest you
contradict somewhat you have stated in this or that public
place? Suppose you should contradict yourself; what
then? It seems to be a rule of wisdom never to rely on
your memory alone, scarcely even in acts of pure
memory, but to bring the past for judgment into the
thousand-eyed present, and live ever in a new day. In
your metaphysics you have denied personality to the
The urge to remain consistent with past actions and beliefs inhibits
the full expression of an individual's nature. The metaphor of a
corpse as the receptacle of memory is a shocking — but apt —
image of the individual who is afraid of contradiction. In this
vivid image of the "corpse of . . . memory," Emerson asks why
people hold onto old beliefs or positions merely because they
have taken these positions in the past. Being obsessed with
whether or not you remain constant in your beliefs needlessly drains
energy — as does conformity — from the act of living. After all,
becoming mature involves the evolution of ideas, which is the
wellspring of creativity. It is most important to review constantly

Page 11 of 46
Deity: yet when the devout motions of the soul come,
yield to them heart and life, though they should clothe
God with shape and color. Leave your theory, as Joseph
his coat in the hand of the harlot (বেশ্যা), and flee.
and to reevaluate past decisions and opinions, and, if necessary, to
escape from old ideas by admitting that they are faulty, just as
the biblical Joseph fled from a seducer by leaving his coat in her
hands, an image particularly potent in characterizing the pressure to
conform as both seductive and degrading.

Paragraph-14
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, Noteworthy in this discussion on consistency is the famous phrase
adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." The term
"hobgoblin," which symbolizes fear of the unknown, furthers the
With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to effect produced by the "corpse" of memory and reinforces Emerson's
do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on condemnation of a society that demands conformity. Citing cultures
the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and that traditionally frown on inconsistency, Emerson points out that
to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words history's greatest thinkers were branded as outcasts for their original
again, though it contradict every thing you said to- ideas — and scorned as such by their peers. Notable among these
figures is Jesus Christ.
day.--'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.'--Is
it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was
misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther,
(American Christian minister and activist who became
the most visible spokesperson and leader in the Civil
Rights Movement from 1955 until his assassination in
1968.) and Copernicus (mathematician) , and Galileo,
and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever
took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.

Paragraph-15
I suppose no man can violate his nature. All the sallies of What appears to be inconsistency is often a misunderstanding based
his will are rounded in by the law of his being, as the on distortion or perspective. Emerson develops this idea by
comparing the progress of a person's thoughts to a ship sailing
inequalities of Andes (The Andes, running along South against the wind: In order to make headway, the ship must tack, or
America's western side, is among the world's longest move in a zigzag line that eventually leads to an identifiable end. In
mountain ranges.) and Himmaleh are insignificant in the the same way, an individual's apparently contradictory acts or
curve of the sphere. Nor does it matter how you gauge decisions show consistency when that person's life is examined in its
and try him. A character is like an acrostic (crossword) or entirety and not in haphazard segments.
Alexandrian stanza (Alexandrine, verse form that is the
leading measure in French poetry.) ;--read it forward,
backward, or across, it still spells the same thing. In this
pleasing, contrite (remorseful) wood-life which God
allows me, let me record day by day my honest thought
without prospect or retrospect, and, I cannot doubt, it will
be found symmetrical, though I mean it not, and see it

Page 12 of 46
not. My book should smell of pines and resound with the
hum of insects. The swallow over my window should
interweave that thread or straw he carries in his bill into
my web also. We pass for what we are. Character teaches
above our wills. Men imagine that they communicate
their virtue or vice only by overt actions, and do not see
that virtue or vice emit a breath every moment.

Paragraph-16
There will be an agreement in whatever variety of
actions, so they be each honest and natural in their hour.
For of one will, the actions will be harmonious, however
unlike they seem. These varieties are lost sight of at a
little distance, at a little height of thought. One tendency
unites them all. The voyage of the best ship is a zigzag
line of a hundred tacks. See the line from a sufficient
distance, and it straightens itself to the average tendency.
Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain
your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains
nothing. Act singly, and what you have already done
singly will justify you now. Greatness appeals to the
future. If I can be firm enough to-day to do right, and
scorn eyes, I must have done so much right before as to
defend me now. Be it how it will, do right now. Always We must "scorn appearances" and do what is right or necessary,
scorn appearances, and you always may. The force of regardless of others' opinions or criticisms.
character is cumulative. All the foregone days of virtue
work their health into this. What makes the majesty of
the heroes of the senate and the field, which so fills the
imagination? The consciousness of a train of great days
and victories behind. They shed an united light on the
advancing actor. He is attended as by a visible escort of
angels. That is it which throws thunder into Chatham's
voice, and dignity into Washington's port, and America
into Adams's eye. Honor is venerable to us because it is
no ephemeris. It is always ancient virtue. We worship it
to-day because it is not of to-day. We love it and pay it
homage, because it is not a trap for our love and homage,
but is self-dependent, self-derived, and therefore of an

Page 13 of 46
old immaculate pedigree, even if shown in a young
person.

Paragraph-17
I hope in these days we have heard the last of Society is not the measure of all things; the individual is. "A true
conformity and consistency. Let the words be gazetted man," Emerson's label for the ideal individual, "belongs to no other
time or place, but is the centre of all things. Where he is, there is
and ridiculous henceforward. Instead of the gong for nature." Nature is not only those objects around us, but also our
dinner, let us hear a whistle from the Spartan fife. Let us individual natures. And these individual natures allow the great
never bow and apologize more. A great man is coming to thinker — the ideal individual — to battle conformity and
eat at my house. I do not wish to please him; I wish that consistency.
he should wish to please me. I will stand here for
humanity, and though I would make it kind, I would
make it true. Let us affront and reprimand the smooth
mediocrity and squalid contentment of the times, and
hurl in the face of custom, and trade, and office, the fact
which is the upshot of all history, that there is a great
responsible Thinker and Actor working wherever a man
works; that a true man belongs to no other time or place,
but is the centre of things. Where he is, there is nature.
He measures you, and all men, and all events. Ordinarily,
every body in society reminds us of somewhat else, or of
some other person. Character, reality, reminds you of
nothing else; it takes place of the whole creation. The
man must be so much, that he must make all
circumstances indifferent. Every true man is a cause, a
country, and an age; requires infinite spaces and
numbers and time fully to accomplish his design;--
and posterity seem to follow his steps as a train of
clients. A man Caesar is born, and for ages after we have
a Roman Empire. Christ is born, and millions of minds
so grow and cleave to his genius, that he is confounded
with virtue and the possible of man. An institution is the
lengthened shadow of one man; as, the Reformation, of
Luther; Quakerism, of Fox; Methodism, of Wesley;
Abolition, of Clarkson. Scipio, Milton called "the height
of Rome"; and all history resolves itself very easily into
the biography of a few stout and earnest persons.

Page 14 of 46
Self-reliance and the individual (paragraphs 18-32)
Paragraph-18 Notes
Let a man then know his worth, and keep things under The second section of "Self-Reliance" offers more suggestions for
the individual who wants to achieve the desirable quality of self-
his feet. Let him not peep or steal, or skulk ( হামাগুড়ি) up
reliance. Emerson begins with a directive: "Let a man then know his
and down with the air of a charity-boy, a bastard, or an worth, and keep things under his feet." Material objects, especially
interloper (intruder), in the world which exists for him. those that are imposing (striking) — Emerson cites magnificent
But the man in the street, finding no worth in himself buildings and heroic works of art, including costly books —
often intimidate (scare) people by making them feel of lesser
which corresponds (অনুরূপ) to the force which built a worth.
tower or sculptured a marble god, feels poor when he
looks on these. To him a palace, a statue, or a costly
book have an alien and forbidding air, much like a gay
This feeling of inferiority is a mistake: Humans determine an
equipage (sth happy), and seem to say like that, 'Who are
object's worth, not vice versa.
you, Sir?' Yet they all are his, suitors for his notice,
petitioners to his faculties that they will come out and
take possession. The picture waits for my verdict: it is
not to command me, but I am to settle its claims to
praise. That popular fable of the sot who was picked up Emerson illustrates this point by relating a fable of a drunkard who
is brought in off the street and treated like a royal personage; the
dead drunk in the street, carried to the duke's house, unthinking individual is like the drunkard, living only half
washed and dressed and laid in the duke's bed, and, on awake, until he comes to his senses by exercising reason and
his waking, treated with all obsequious (flattering) discovers that he is actually a prince.
ceremony like the duke, and assured that he had been
insane, owes its popularity to the fact, that it symbolizes
so well the state of man, who is in the world a sort of
sot, but now and then wakes up, exercises his reason,
and finds himself a true prince.

Paragrapg-19
Our reading is mendicant (ভিক্ষু /poor) and sycophantic One cause for our not exercising reason is the uncritical manner in
which we read. Complaining that we often enjoy reading about
(flattering). In history, our imagination plays us false. the exploits of famous people while ignoring or devaluing books
Kingdom and lordship, power and estate, are a gaudier about ordinary righteousness and virtue, Emerson asks why
(cheaper) vocabulary than private John and Edward in a people view the acts of well-known individuals as more important
small house and common day's work; but the things of than the behavior of ordinary citizens, even though the good or bad
life are the same to both; the sum total of both is the behavior of ordinary people can have effects as noble or as dire as
the actions of the powerful.
same. Why all this deference (respect) to Alfred, and
Scanderbeg (an Albanian, Europe nobleman and military
commander who led a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire ), and
Gustavus (King of Sweden)? Suppose they were virtuous;
Page 15 of 46
did they wear out virtue? As great a stake depends on
your private act to-day, as followed their public and
renowned steps. When private men shall act with original
views, the lustre will be transferred from the actions of
kings to those of gentlemen.

Paragrapg-20
The world has been instructed by its kings, who have so Condemning European monarchies, he considers why royalty is
magnetized the eyes of nations. It has been taught by this accorded exaggerated respect despite the equal importance of
common people; he can reason only that ordinary people respect
colossal symbol the mutual reverence that is due from royalty in recognition that a king or a queen represents the "royal"
man to man. The joyful loyalty with which men have nature of every person, an argument he rejects outright.
everywhere suffered the king, the noble, or the great
proprietor to walk among them by a law of his own,
make his own scale of men and things, and reverse theirs,
pay for benefits not with money but with honor, and
represent the law in his person, was the hieroglyphic
(symbol) by which they obscurely signified their
consciousness of their own right and comeliness
(attractiveness), the right of every man.

Paragraph-21
The magnetism which all original action exerts is
explained when we inquire the reason of self-trust. Who
is the Trustee? What is the aboriginal Self on which a
universal reliance may be grounded? What is the
nature and power of that science-baffling (puzzling)
star, without parallax (লম্বন), without calculable
elements, which shoots a ray of beauty even into
trivial and impure actions, if the least mark of
independence appear? The inquiry leads us to that
source, at once the essence of genius, of virtue, and of
life, which we call Spontaneity or Instinct. We denote
this primary wisdom as Intuition, whilst all later
teachings are tuitions (teaching). In that deep force, the
last fact behind which analysis cannot go, all things find
their common origin. For, the sense of being which in
calm hours rises, we know not how, in the soul, is not
diverse from things, from space, from light, from time,
Given the inferiority that an individual can feel when
confronted by conformity and consistency, and now
commonality, Emerson wonders how people remain
confident in their abilities.
The answer is provided by "that source, at once the
essence of genius, of virtue, and of life, which we call
Spontaneity or Instinct." The wisdom that springs from
spontaneous instinct is Intuition, or inner knowledge
from directly apprehending an object. All other
knowledge is mere tuition, secondhand beliefs received
from others instead of a uniquely individual response that
was sparked by the source itself. This notion of Intuition
is closely related to a main idea of transcendentalism: An

Page 16 of 46
from man, but one with them, and proceeds obviously all-encompassing "soul" animates the universe and is the
from the same source whence their life and being also source of all wisdom and inspiration. Direct knowledge,
proceed. We first share the life by which things exist, and or intuition, is gained as a gift from this overwhelming
afterwards see them as appearances in nature, and forget source. But exactly what Emerson means by "Intuition"
that we have shared their cause. Here is the fountain of and "soul" is difficult to grasp, even for him: "If we ask
action and of thought. Here are the lungs of that whence this comes, if we seek to pry into the soul that
inspiration which giveth man wisdom, and which cannot causes, all philosophy is at fault. Its presence or its
be denied without impiety and atheism. We lie in the lap absence is all we can affirm."
of immense intelligence, which makes us receivers of
its truth and organs of its activity. When we discern
justice, when we discern truth, we do nothing of
ourselves, but allow a passage to its beams. If we ask
whence this comes, if we seek to pry into the soul that
causes, all philosophy is at fault. Its presence or its
absence is all we can affirm. Every man discriminates
between the voluntary acts of his mind, and his
involuntary perceptions, and knows that to his
involuntary perceptions a perfect faith is due. He may
err in the expression of them, but he knows that these
things are so, like day and night, not to be disputed.
My wilful actions and acquisitions are but roving
(whimsical);--the idlest reverie (daydream), the faintest Emerson now introduces a contrasting idea to the portrait
native emotion, command my curiosity and respect. he has drawn of the intuitive individual: the
Thoughtless people contradict as readily the statement characteristics and behavior of the "thoughtless man,"
of perceptions as of opinions, or rather much more who cannot see the depth of truth being used by the self-
readily; for, they do not distinguish between perception reliant, intuitive person. Thoughtless people cannot
and notion. They fancy that I choose to see this or that understand self-reliant individuals' seeming
thing. But perception is not whimsical, but fatal. If I inconsistencies because thoughtless people are too
see a trait, my children will see it after me, and in course worried about being consistent — as society oppressively
of time, all mankind,--although it may chance that no one wants them to be.
has seen it before me. For my perception of it is as much
a fact as the sun.
Paragraph-22
The relations of the soul to the divine spirit are so pure,
that it is profane (blasphemous) to seek to interpose
helps. It must be that when God speaketh he should
communicate, not one thing, but all things; should fill the
world with his voice; should scatter forth light, nature,

Page 17 of 46
time, souls, from the centre of the present thought; and
new date and new create the whole. Whenever a mind is
simple, and receives a divine wisdom, old things pass
away,--means, teachers, texts, temples fall; it lives now,
and absorbs past and future into the present hour. All
things are made sacred by relation to it,--one as much as
another. All things are dissolved to their centre by their
cause, and, in the universal miracle, petty and particular
miracles disappear. If, therefore, a man claims to know
and speak of God, and carries you backward to the
phraseology of some old mouldered nation in another
country, in another world, believe him not. Is the
acorn (ওক গাছের ফল) better than the oak which is its
fulness and completion? Is the parent better than the
child into whom he has cast his ripened being? Whence,
then, this worship of the past? The centuries are
conspirators against the sanity and authority of the
soul. Time and space are but physiological colors which
the eye makes, but the soul is light; where it is, is day;
where it was, is night; and history is an impertinence and
an injury, if it be any thing more than a cheerful
apologue or parable of my being and becoming.

Paragraph-23
Man is timid and apologetic; he is no longer upright; he
dares not say 'I think,' 'I am,' but quotes some saint or
sage. He is ashamed before the blade of grass or the
blowing rose. These roses under my window make no
reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for
what they are; they exist with God to-day. There is no
time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in
every moment of its existence. Before a leaf-bud has
burst, its whole life acts; in the full-blown flower there is
no more; in the leafless root there is no less. Its nature is
satisfied, and it satisfies nature, in all moments alike. But
man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the
present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or,
heedless of the riches that surround him, stands on tiptoe

Page 18 of 46
to foresee the future. He cannot be happy and strong until
he too lives with nature in the present, above time.

Paragraph-24
This should be plain enough. Yet see what strong
intellects dare not yet hear God himself, unless he speak
the phraseology of I know not what David, or Jeremiah,
or Paul. We shall not always set so great a price on a few
texts, on a few lives. We are like children who repeat by
rote the sentences of grandames and tutors, and, as they
grow older, of the men of talents and character they
chance to see,--painfully recollecting the exact words
they spoke; afterwards, when they come into the point of
view which those had who uttered these sayings, they
understand them, and are willing to let the words go; for,
at any time, they can use words as good when occasion
comes. If we live truly, we shall see truly. It is as easy for
the strong man to be strong, as it is for the weak to be
weak. When we have new perception, we shall gladly
disburden the memory of its hoarded treasures as old
rubbish. When a man lives with God, his voice shall be
as sweet as the murmur of the brook and the rustle of the
corn.

Paragraph-25
And now at last the highest truth on this subject remains
unsaid; probably cannot be said; for all that we say is the
far-off remembering of the intuition. That thought, by
what I can now nearest approach to say it, is this. When
good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not
by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern
the foot-prints of any other; you shall not see the face of
man; you shall not hear any name;--the way, the thought,
the good, shall be wholly strange and new. It shall
exclude example and experience. You take the way from
man, not to man. All persons that ever existed are its
forgotten ministers. Fear and hope are alike beneath it.
There is somewhat low even in hope. In the hour of

Page 19 of 46
vision, there is nothing that can be called gratitude, nor
properly joy. The soul raised over passion beholds
identity and eternal causation, perceives the self-
existence of Truth and Right, and calms itself with
knowing that all things go well. Vast spaces of nature,
the Atlantic Ocean, the South Sea,--long intervals of
time, years, centuries,--are of no account. This which I
think and feel underlay every former state of life and
circumstances, as it does underlie my present, and what
is called life, and what is called death.

Paragraph-26
Life only avails, not the having lived. Power ceases in
the instant of repose; it resides in the moment of
transition from a past to a new state, in the shooting of
the gulf, in the darting to an aim. This one fact the world
hates, that the soul becomes; for that for ever degrades
the past, turns all riches to poverty, all reputation to a
shame, confounds the saint with the rogue, shoves Jesus
and Judas equally aside. Why, then, do we prate of self-
reliance? Inasmuch as the soul is present, there will be
power not confident but agent. To talk of reliance is a
poor external way of speaking. Speak rather of that
which relies, because it works and is. Who has more
obedience than I masters me, though he should not raise
his finger. Round him I must revolve by the gravitation
of spirits. We fancy it rhetoric, when we speak of
eminent virtue. We do not yet see that virtue is Height,
and that a man or a company of men, plastic and
permeable to principles, by the law of nature must
overpower and ride all cities, nations, kings, rich men,
poets, who are not.

Paragrapg-27
This is the ultimate fact which we so quickly reach on
this, as on every topic, the resolution of all into the ever-
blessed ONE. Self-existence is the attribute of the
Supreme Cause, and it constitutes the measure of good

Page 20 of 46
by the degree in which it enters into all lower forms. All
things real are so by so much virtue as they contain.
Commerce, husbandry, hunting, whaling, war,
eloquence, personal weight, are somewhat, and engage
my respect as examples of its presence and impure
action. I see the same law working in nature for
conservation and growth. Power is in nature the essential
measure of right. Nature suffers nothing to remain in her
kingdoms which cannot help itself. The genesis and
maturation of a planet, its poise and orbit, the bended tree
recovering itself from the strong wind, the vital resources
of every animal and vegetable, are demonstrations of the
self-sufficing, and therefore self-relying soul.

Paragraph-28
Thus all concentrates: let us not rove; let us sit at home
with the cause. Let us stun and astonish the intruding
rabble of men and books and institutions, by a simple
declaration of the divine fact. Bid the invaders take the
shoes from off their feet, for God is here within. Let our
simplicity judge them, and our docility to our own law
demonstrate the poverty of nature and fortune beside our
native riches.

Paragraph-29
But now we are a mob. Man does not stand in awe of
man, nor is his genius admonished to stay at home, to put
itself in communication with the internal ocean, but it
goes abroad to beg a cup of water of the urns of other
men. We must go alone. I like the silent church before
the service begins, better than any preaching. How far
off, how cool, how chaste the persons look, begirt each
one with a precinct or sanctuary! So let us always sit.
Why should we assume the faults of our friend, or wife,
or father, or child, because they sit around our hearth, or
are said to have the same blood? All men have my blood,
and I have all men's. Not for that will I adopt their
petulance or folly, even to the extent of being ashamed of

Page 21 of 46
it. But your isolation must not be mechanical, but
spiritual, that is, must be elevation. At times the whole
world seems to be in conspiracy to importune you with
emphatic trifles. Friend, client, child, sickness, fear,
want, charity, all knock at once at thy closet door, and
say,--'Come out unto us.' But keep thy state; come not
into their confusion. The power men possess to annoy
me, I give them by a weak curiosity. No man can come
near me but through my act. "What we love that we have,
but by desire we bereave ourselves of the love."

Paragraph-30
If we cannot at once rise to the sanctities of obedience
and faith, let us at least resist our temptations; let us enter
into the state of war, and wake Thor and Woden,
courage and constancy, in our Saxon breasts. This is to
be done in our smooth times by speaking the truth. Check
this lying hospitality and lying affection. Live no longer
to the expectation of these deceived and deceiving people
with whom we converse. Say to them, O father, O
mother, O wife, O brother, O friend, I have lived with
you after appearances hitherto. Henceforward I am the
truth's. Be it known unto you that henceforward I obey
no law less than the eternal law. I will have no covenants
but proximities. I shall endeavour to nourish my parents,
to support my family, to be the chaste husband of one
wife,--but these relations I must fill after a new and
unprecedented way. I appeal from your customs. I must
be myself. I cannot break myself any longer for you, or
you. If you can love me for what I am, we shall be the
happier. If you cannot, I will still seek to deserve that you
should. I will not hide my tastes or aversions. I will so
trust that what is deep is holy, that I will do strongly
before the sun and moon whatever inly rejoices me, and
the heart appoints. If you are noble, I will love you; if
you are not, I will not hurt you and myself by
hypocritical attentions. If you are true, but not in the
same truth with me, cleave to your companions; I will

Page 22 of 46
seek my own. I do this not selfishly, but humbly and
truly. It is alike your interest, and mine, and all men's,
however long we have dwelt in lies, to live in truth. Does
this sound harsh to-day? You will soon love what is
dictated by your nature as well as mine, and, if we follow
the truth, it will bring us out safe at last.-- But so you
may give these friends pain. Yes, but I cannot sell my
liberty and my power, to save their sensibility. Besides,
all persons have their moments of reason, when they look
out into the region of absolute truth; then will they justify
me, and do the same thing.

Paragraph-31
The populace think that your rejection of popular
standards is a rejection of all standard, and mere
antinomianism; and the bold sensualist will use the name
of philosophy to gild his crimes. But the law of
consciousness abides. There are two confessionals, in
one or the other of which we must be shriven. You may
fulfil your round of duties by clearing yourself in the
direct, or in the reflex way. Consider whether you have
satisfied your relations to father, mother, cousin,
neighbour, town, cat, and dog; whether any of these can
upbraid you. But I may also neglect this reflex standard,
and absolve me to myself. I have my own stern claims
and perfect circle. It denies the name of duty to many
offices that are called duties. But if I can discharge its
debts, it enables me to dispense with the popular code. If
any one imagines that this law is lax, let him keep its
commandment one day.
Paragraph-32
And truly it demands something godlike in him who has
cast off the common motives of humanity, and has
ventured to trust himself for a taskmaster. High be his
heart, faithful his will, clear his sight, that he may in
good earnest be doctrine, society, law, to himself, that a
simple purpose may be to him as strong as iron necessity
is to others!

Page 23 of 46
Page 24 of 46
Self-reliance and society (paragraphs 33-50)

Paragraph-33
If any man consider the present aspects of what is called In the final third of "Self-Reliance," Emerson
by distinction society, he will see the need of these considers the benefits to society of the kind
ethics. The sinew and heart of man seem to be drawn of self-reliance he has been describing. His
out, and we are become timorous (timid), desponding examination of society demonstrates the
(হতাশ করা) whimperers (প্যান প্যান করা). We are afraid of need for a morality of self-reliance, and he
truth, afraid of fortune, afraid of death, and afraid of again criticizes his contemporary Americans
each other. Our age yields no great and perfect persons. for being followers rather than original
We want men and women who shall renovate life and thinkers.
our social state, but we see that most natures are
insolvent, cannot satisfy their own wants, have an
ambition out of all proportion to their practical force, and
do lean and beg day and night continually. Our
housekeeping is mendicant, our arts, our occupations,
our marriages, our religion, we have not chosen, but
society has chosen for us. We are parlour soldiers. We
shun the rugged battle of fate, where strength is born.

Paragraph-34
If our young men miscarry in their first enterprises, they Condemning the timidity of most young
lose all heart. If the young merchant fails, men say he is people, whose greatest fear is failure, he
ruined. If the finest genius studies at one of our colleges, levels his complaint especially at urban,
and is not installed in an office within one year educated youths, unfavorably comparing
afterwards in the cities or suburbs of Boston or New them with a hypothetical farm lad, who
York, it seems to his friends and to himself that he is engages himself in many occupations largely
right in being disheartened, and in complaining the rest self-taught and entrepreneurial. The
of his life. A sturdy (strong) lad from New Hampshire comparison between the city youths and the
or Vermont, who in turn tries all the professions, who
country fellow is to be expected given the
teams it, farms it, peddles (hawks), keeps a school,
quality of life Emerson traditionally assigns to
preaches, edits a newspaper, goes to Congress, buys a
township, and so forth, in successive years, and each environment. Of no surprise is his
always, like a cat, falls on his feet, is worth a hundred favoring the bucolic (rural) life.
of these city dolls. He walks abreast with his days, and
feels no shame in not `studying a profession,' for he does
not postpone his life, but lives already. He has not one
chance, but a hundred chances. Let a Stoic (tolerant)
Page 25 of 46
open the resources of man, and tell men they are not
leaning willows, but can and must detach themselves;
that with the exercise of self-trust, new powers shall
appear; that a man is the word made flesh, born to shed
healing to the nations, that he should be ashamed of our
compassion, and that the moment he acts from himself,
tossing the laws, the books, idolatries, and customs out of
the window, we pity him no more, but thank and revere
him,--and that teacher shall restore the life of man to
splendor, and make his name dear to all history.

Paragraph-35
It is easy to see that a greater self-reliance must work a
revolution in all the offices and relations of men; in their
religion; in their education; in their pursuits; their modes
of living; their association; in their property; in their
speculative views.

Paragraph-36
1. In what prayers do men allow themselves! That which Emerson now focuses on four social
they call a holy office is not so much as brave and arenas in which self-reliant individuals
manly. Prayer looks abroad and asks for some foreign are needed: religion, which fears
addition to come through some foreign virtue, and loses
creativity; culture, which devalues
itself in endless mazes of natural and supernatural,
and mediatorial (সালিস-সংক্রান্ত) and miraculous. Prayer individualism; the arts, which teach us
that craves a particular commodity,--any thing less only to imitate; and society, which falsely
than all good,--is vicious. Prayer is the contemplation values so-called progress.
of the facts of life from the highest point of view. It is
the soliloquy of a beholding and jubilant soul. It is the Religion, Emerson says, could benefit
spirit of God pronouncing his works good. But prayer from a good dose of self-reliance because
as a means to effect a private end is meanness and
self-reliance turns a person's mind from
theft. It supposes dualism and not unity in nature and
consciousness. As soon as the man is at one with God, petty, self-centered desires to a
he will not beg. He will then see prayer in all action. benevolent wish for the common good.
The prayer of the farmer kneeling in his field to weed
it, the prayer of the rower kneeling with the stroke of
his oar, are true prayers heard throughout nature,
though for cheap ends. Caratach, in Fletcher's Bonduca,

Page 26 of 46
when admonished to inquire the mind of the god Audate,
replies, --

"His hidden meaning lies in our endeavours;

Our valors are our best gods."

Paragraph-37
Another sort of false prayers are our regrets.
Discontent is the want of self-reliance: it is infirmity
(disability) of will. Regret calamities (misfortunes), if
you can thereby help the sufferer; if not, attend your
own work, and already the evil begins to be repaired.
Our sympathy is just as base. We come to them who
weep foolishly, and sit down and cry for company,
instead of imparting to them truth and health in
rough electric shocks, putting them once more in
communication with their own reason. The secret of
fortune is joy in our hands. Welcome evermore to
gods and men is the self-helping man. For him all
doors are flung wide: him all tongues greet, all honors
crown, all eyes follow with desire. Our love goes out
to him and embraces him, because he did not need it.
We solicitously (sympathetically) and apologetically
(remorsefully) caress and celebrate him, because he
held on his way and scorned our disapprobation
(condemnation). The gods love him because men hated
him. "To the persevering (stubborn) mortal," said
Zoroaster, (Iranian prophet) "the blessed Immortals
are swift."

Paragraph-38
As men's prayers are a disease of the will, so are their
creeds a disease of the intellect. They say with those
foolish Israelites, 'Let not God speak to us, lest we die.
Speak thou, speak any man with us, and we will obey.'
Everywhere I am hindered of meeting God in my
brother, because he has shut his own temple doors,
and recites fables merely of his brother's, or his
Religion's main problem is its fear of
individual creativity. As a consequence, it
opts for the art of mimicry: "Everywhere I
am hindered of meeting God in my
brother, because he has shut his own
temple doors, and recites fables merely

Page 27 of 46
brother's brother's God. Every new mind is a new of his brother's, or his brother's brother's
classification. If it prove a mind of uncommon activity God."
and power, a Locke (John Locke, 17th century
philosopher, "Father of Liberalism" ), a Lavoisier
(Antoine Lavoisier , was a French nobleman and
chemist of 18th c), a Hutton (James Hutton ‘father’ of
modern geology, 18th c ), a Bentham (Jeremy Bentham
was an English philosopher, 18 c), a Fourier
( Joseph Fourier was a French mathematician , 19th c), it
imposes its classification on other men, and lo! a new
system. In proportion to the depth of the thought, and so
to the number of the objects it touches and brings within
reach of the pupil, is his complacency. But chiefly is this
apparent in creeds and churches, which are also
classifications of some powerful mind acting on the
elemental thought of duty, and man's relation to the
Highest. Such is Calvinism, Quakerism,
Swedenborgism. The pupil takes the same delight in
subordinating every thing to the new terminology, as a
girl who has just learned botany in seeing a new earth Any religion can introduce new ideas and
and new seasons thereby. It will happen for a time, that systems of thought to an individual, but
the pupil will find his intellectual power has grown by religious creeds are dangerous because
the study of his master's mind. But in all unbalanced they substitute a set of ready answers for
minds, the classification is idolized, passes for the end, the independent thought required of the
and not for a speedily exhaustible means, so that the self-reliant person.
walls of the system blend to their eye in the remote
horizon with the walls of the universe; the luminaries of
heaven seem to them hung on the arch their master built.
They cannot imagine how you aliens have any right to
see,--how you can see; 'It must be somehow that you
stole the light from us.' They do not yet perceive, that
light, unsystematic, indomitable, will break into any
cabin, even into theirs. Let them chirp awhile and call it
their own. If they are honest and do well, presently
their neat new pinfold will be too strait and low, will
crack, will lean, will rot and vanish, and the immortal
light, all young and joyful, million-orbed, million-
colored, will beam over the universe as on the first

Page 28 of 46
morning.

Paragraph-39
2. It is for want of self-culture that the superstition of Although we might question Emerson's
Travelling, whose idols are Italy, England, Egypt, relating travel — or culture — to religion,
retains its fascination for all educated Americans. They both substitute an external source of
who made England, Italy, or Greece venerable
wisdom for an individual's inner wisdom.
(respected) in the imagination did so by sticking fast
where they were, like an axis of the earth. In manly
hours, we feel that duty is our place. The soul is no
traveller; the wise man stays at home, and when his
necessities, his duties, on any occasion call him from
his house, or into foreign lands, he is at home still,
and shall make men sensible by the expression of his
countenance, that he goes the missionary of wisdom
and virtue, and visits cities and men like a sovereign,
and not like an interloper (intruder/ অনধিকার প্রবেশকারী
ব্যক্তি) or a valet (vacuum).

Paragrapg-40
I have no churlish (rude) objection to the The person who travels "with the hope of
circumnavigation (round) of the globe, for the purposes finding [something] greater than he
of art, of study, and benevolence, so that the man is first knows . . . travels away from himself, and
domesticated, or does not go abroad with the hope of
grows old even in youth among old
finding somewhat greater than he knows. He who
travels to be amused, or to get somewhat which he things." The reference to youth reminds
does not carry, travels away from himself, and grows us that the self-reliant individual is
old even in youth among old things. In Thebes, in childlike and original, whereas a person
Palmyra, his will and mind have become old and who travels for the wrong reasons
dilapidated (decaying) as they. He carries ruins to ruins. creates nothing new and chooses instead
to be surrounded by "old things."
Paragraph-41
Travelling is a fool's paradise. Our first journeys
discover to us the indifference of places. At home I
dream that at Naples, at Rome, I can be intoxicated with
beauty, and lose my sadness. I pack my trunk, embrace
my friends, embark on the sea, and at last wake up in

Page 29 of 46
Naples, and there beside me is the stern fact, the sad self,
unrelenting (diligence), identical, that I fled from. I seek
the Vatican, and the palaces. I affect to be intoxicated
with sights and suggestions, but I am not intoxicated. My
giant goes with me wherever I go.

Paragraph-42
3. But the rage of travelling is a symptom of a deeper The urge to travel is a symptom,
unsoundness affecting the whole intellectual action. The according to Emerson, of our educational
intellect is vagabond, and our system of education system's failure: Because schools teach
fosters restlessness. Our minds travel when our bodies
us only to imitate, too often we travel to
are forced to stay at home. We imitate; and what is
imitation but the travelling of the mind? Our houses experience others' works of art rather
are built with foreign taste; our shelves are garnished than create them ourselves. In "The
(decorated) with foreign ornaments; our opinions, our American Scholar," Emerson advises
tastes, our faculties, lean, and follow the Past and the young scholars to break with European
Distant. The soul created the arts wherever they have literary traditions.
flourished. It was in his own mind that the artist sought
his model. It was an application of his own thought to the
thing to be done and the conditions to be observed. And
why need we copy the Doric or the Gothic model?
Beauty, convenience, grandeur of thought, and quaint
expression are as near to us as to any, and if the
American artist will study with hope and love the Likewise, in "Self-Reliance," he addresses
precise thing to be done by him, considering the American artists with many of the same
climate, the soil, the length of the day, the wants of arguments: "Beauty, convenience,
the people, the habit and form of the government, he grandeur of thought, and quaint
will create a house in which all these will find expression are as near to us as to any," if
themselves fitted, and taste and sentiment will be
satisfied also. only American artisans would consider
"the climate, the soil, the length of the
day, the wants of the people, the habit
and form of the government."
Paragraph-43
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
Page 30 of 46
(spontaneous), half possession. That which each can do
best, none but his Maker can teach him. No man yet
knows what it is, nor can, till that person has exhibited it.
Where is the master who could have taught
Shakspeare? Where is the master who could have
instructed Franklin, or Washington, or Bacon, or
Newton? Every great man is a unique. The Scipionism
of Scipio is precisely that part he could not borrow.
Shakspeare will never be made by the study of
Shakspeare. Do that which is assigned you, and you
cannot hope too much or dare too much. There is at this
moment for you an utterance brave and grand as that of
the colossal chisel of Phidias, or trowel of the Egyptians,
or the pen of Moses, or Dante, but different from all
these. Not possibly will the soul all rich, all eloquent,
with thousand-cloven tongue, deign to repeat itself; but if
you can hear what these patriarchs say, surely you can
reply to them in the same pitch of voice; for the ear and
the tongue are two organs of one nature. Abide in the
simple and noble regions of thy life, obey thy heart, and
thou shalt reproduce the Foreworld again.

Paragraph-44
4. As our Religion, our Education, our Art look abroad,
so does our spirit of society. All men plume themselves
on the improvement of society, and no man improves.

Paragraph-45
Emerson's criticism of society, and
Society never advances. It recedes as fast on one side as especially its ill-conceived notion of
it gains on the other. It undergoes continual changes; it is progress, differs from his earlier
barbarous, it is civilized, it is christianized, it is rich, it is
comments on the subject. The
scientific; but this change is not amelioration. For every
thing that is given, something is taken. Society acquires progression of ideas symbolized in the
new arts, and loses old instincts. What a contrast between zigzag line of a ship is not what he is
the well-clad, reading, writing, thinking American, with a addressing here. He is arguing that
watch, a pencil, and a bill of exchange in his pocket, and society does not necessarily improve
the naked New Zealander, whose property is a club, a from material changes. For example,
Page 31 of 46
spear, a mat, and an undivided twentieth of a shed to
sleep under! But compare the health of the two men, and
you shall see that the white man has lost his aboriginal
strength. If the traveller tell us truly, strike the savage
with a broad axe, and in a day or two the flesh shall unite
and heal as if you struck the blow into soft pitch, and the
same blow shall send the white to his grave.
Paragraph-46
The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use
of his feet. He is supported on crutches, but lacks so
much support of muscle. He has a fine Geneva watch,
but he fails of the skill to tell the hour by the sun. A
Greenwich nautical almanac he has, and so being sure of
the information when he wants it, the man in the street
does not know a star in the sky. The solstice he does not
observe; the equinox he knows as little; and the whole
bright calendar of the year is without a dial in his mind.
His note-books impair his memory; his libraries overload
his wit; the insurance-office increases the number of
accidents; and it may be a question whether machinery
does not encumber; whether we have not lost by
refinement some energy, by a Christianity entrenched in
establishments and forms, some vigor of wild virtue. For
every Stoic was a Stoic; but in Christendom where is the
Christian?
Page 32 of 46
advances in technology result in the loss
of certain kinds of wisdom: The person
who has a watch loses the ability to tell
time by the sun's position in the sky, and
improvements in transportation and war
machinery are not accompanied by
corresponding improvements in either the
physical or mental stature of human
beings. The most effective image for this
static nature of society is the wave. A
wave moves in and out from the
shoreline, but the water that composes it
does not; changes occur in society, but
"society never advances."
There is no more deviation in the moral standard than in
the standard of height or bulk. No greater men are now
than ever were. A singular equality may be observed
between the great men of the first and of the last ages;
nor can all the science, art, religion, and philosophy of
the nineteenth century avail to educate greater men than
Plutarch's heroes, three or four and twenty centuries ago.
Not in time is the race progressive. Phocion, Socrates,
Anaxagoras, Diogenes, are great men, but they leave no
class. He who is really of their class will not be called by
their name, but will be his own man, and, in his turn, the
founder of a sect. The arts and inventions of each period
are only its costume, and do not invigorate men. The
harm of the improved machinery may compensate its
good. Hudson and Behring accomplished so much in
their fishing-boats, as to astonish Parry and Franklin,
whose equipment exhausted the resources of science and
art. Galileo, with an opera-glass, discovered a more
splendid series of celestial phenomena than any one
since. Columbus found the New World in an undecked
boat. It is curious to see the periodical disuse and
 perishing of means and machinery, which were
introduced with loud laudation a few years or centuries
before. The great genius returns to essential man. We
reckoned the improvements of the art of war among the
triumphs of science, and yet Napoleon conquered Europe
by the bivouac, which consisted of falling back on naked
valor, and disencumbering it of all aids. The Emperor
held it impossible to make a perfect army, says Las
Casas, "without abolishing our arms, magazines,
commissaries, and carriages, until, in imitation of the
Roman custom, the soldier should receive his supply of
corn, grind it in his hand-mill, and bake his bread
himself."

Paragraph-47
There is no more deviation in the moral standard than in
the standard of height or bulk. No greater men are now
than ever were. A singular equality may be observed
between the great men of the first and of the last ages;
nor can all the science, art, religion, and philosophy of
the nineteenth century avail to educate greater men than
Plutarch's heroes, three or four and twenty centuries ago.
Not in time is the race progressive. Phocion, Socrates,
Anaxagoras, Diogenes, are great men, but they leave no
class. He who is really of their class will not be called by
their name, but will be his own man, and, in his turn, the
founder of a sect. The arts and inventions of each period
are only its costume, and do not invigorate men. The
harm of the improved machinery may compensate its
good. Hudson Web Site and Behring accomplished so
much in their fishing-boats, as to astonish Parry and
Franklin, whose equipment exhausted the resources of
science and art. Galileo, with an opera-glass, discovered
a more splendid series of celestial phenomena than any
one since. Columbus found the New World in an
undecked boat. It is curious to see the periodical disuse
and perishing of means and machinery, which were
Page 33 of 46
introduced with loud laudation a few years or centuries
before. The great genius returns to essential man. We
reckoned the improvements of the art of war among the
triumphs of science, and yet Napoleon conquered Europe
by the bivouac, which consisted of falling back on naked
valor, and disencumbering it of all aids. The Emperor
held it impossible to make a perfect army, says Las
Casas, "without abolishing our arms, magazines,
commissaries, and carriages, until, in imitation of the
Roman custom, the soldier should receive his supply of
corn, grind it in his hand-mill, and bake his bread
himself."
Paragraph-48
Society is a wave. The wave moves onward, but the
water of which it is composed does not. The same
particle does not rise from the valley to the ridge. Its
unity is only phenomenal. The persons who make up a
nation to-day, next year die, and their experience with
them.

Paragraph-49
And so the reliance on Property, including the reliance
on governments which protect it, is the want of self-
reliance. Men have looked away from themselves and at
things so long, that they have come to esteem the
religious, learned, and civil institutions as guards of
property, and they deprecate assaults on these, because
they feel them to be assaults on property. They measure
their esteem of each other by what each has, and not by
what each is. But a cultivated man becomes ashamed of
his property, out of new respect for his nature. Especially
he hates what he has, if he see that it is accidental, --
came to him by inheritance, or gift, or crime; then he
feels that it is not having; it does not belong to him, has
no root in him, and merely lies there, because no
revolution or no robber takes it away. But that which a
man is does always by necessity acquire, and what the
man acquires is living property, which does not wait the
Page 34 of 46
beck of rulers, or mobs, or revolutions, or fire, or storm,
or bankruptcies, but perpetually renews itself wherever
the man breathes. "Thy lot or portion of life," said the
Caliph Ali, "is seeking after thee; therefore be at rest
from seeking after it." Our dependence on these foreign
goods leads us to our slavish respect for numbers. The
political parties meet in numerous conventions; the
greater the concourse, and with each new uproar of
announcement, The delegation from Essex! The
Democrats from New Hampshire! The Whigs of Maine!
the young patriot feels himself stronger than before by a
new thousand of eyes and arms. In like manner the
reformers summon conventions, and vote and resolve in
multitude. Not so, O friends! will the God deign to enter
and inhabit you, but by a method precisely the reverse. It
is only as a man puts off all foreign support, and stands
alone, that I see him to be strong and to prevail. He is
weaker by every recruit to his banner. Is not a man better
than a town? Ask nothing of men, and in the endless
mutation, thou only firm column must presently appear
the upholder of all that surrounds thee. He who knows
that power is inborn, that he is weak because he has
looked for good out of him and elsewhere, and so
perceiving, throws himself unhesitatingly on his thought,
instantly rights himself, stands in the erect position,
commands his limbs, works miracles; just as a man who
stands on his feet is stronger than a man who stands on
his head.

Paragraph-50
So use all that is called Fortune. Most men gamble with
her, and gain all, and lose all, as her wheel rolls. But do
thou leave as unlawful these winnings, and deal with
Cause and Effect, the chancellors of God. In the Will
work and acquire, and thou hast chained the wheel of
Chance, and shalt sit hereafter out of fear from her
rotations. A political victory, a rise of rents, the recovery
of your sick, or the return of your absent friend, or some

Page 35 of 46
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.

Page 36 of 46
Summary and Analysis of Self-Reliance Glossary
Ne te quaesiveris extra Latin, meaning "Do not seek outside yourself." In other words,
"Look within."

Beaumont, Francis (d. 1616) An English dramatist, he co-authored all of his major
works, including The Maides Ragedy (1611), with John Fletcher.

Fletcher, John (1579-1625) An English dramatist best known for his collaboration with
Francis Beaumont; Fletcher was the sole author of at least fifteen plays.

bantling A baby.

Plato (c. 427-347 B.C.) A Greek philosopher, he formulated the philosophy of idealism,
which holds that the concepts or ideas of things are more perfect — and, therefore,
more real — than the material things themselves.

Milton, John (1608-74) The English poet renowned for his religious epic
poem Paradise Lost (1667), which sought to "justify the ways of God to men."

set at naught To set aside, or deem inconsequential.

firmament The expanse of the heavens; the sky; poetically, a symbol of strength.

piquancy Appealingly provocative.

the pit In early theaters, the cheapest seats behind the orchestra, below the level of
the stage.

cumbers To trouble the mind or the senses.

eclat A dazzling display.

Page 37 of 46
Lethe In Greek mythology, the river of forgetfulness that flows between the world of
the living and the underworld of the dead.

titular Existing only in title, or name.

ephemeral Short-lived; transitory.

Barbados The easternmost island of the West Indies, Barbados was a British colony
until it became independent in 1966; British legislation abolished slavery in the West
Indies in 1833.

lintel The horizontal door post of a house.

Whim Emerson is recalling Exodus 12, in which God instructs Moses to mark the doors
of Hebrew homes with blood so that the inhabitants will be spared when God passes
through Egypt to "smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast."
Here, Emerson is saying that instead of marking the house with blood, he would mark
the house with the word "Whim," thereby characterizing the inhabitants as utterly
devoid of personal integrity.

alms to sots Donations to drunkards.

bleeding A medical practice in which blood is released from a patient's veins,

supposedly to drain away infections or toxic matter.

Bible-society One of a number of societies organized for translating and distributing

bibles.

blindman's buff A game in which a blindfolded player tries to catch and identify other
players.

mow To grimace.

magnanimity The quality of being generous in forgiving insult or injury.

Page 38 of 46
Joseph and the harlot A reference to the biblical Joseph, who refused the advances of
an Egyptian officer's wife (the "harlot"); the woman then falsely accused him of rape,
and Joseph was thrown in jail, where he received his gift of dream interpretation.

hobgoblin A frightening apparition; a goblin.

Pythagoras (sixth century B.C.) Greek philosopher; considered to be the first true

mathematician.

Socrates (d. 399 B.C.) A Greek philosopher, he initiated a question-and-answer method

of teaching — called the Socratic method — as a means of achieving self-knowledge;
opponents of Socrates' method felt that he was undermining the authority of the state
by teaching youths to question received knowledge. He was brought to trial, convicted
of corrupting youth, and condemned to die; he carried out the sentence by drinking
poison.

Luther, Martin (1483-1546) A German theologian, Luther is credited with initiating the
Protestant Reformation; he believed in the ability of educated lay people to form
ethical and religious judgments based on their own interpretations of scripture.

Copernicus, Nicolaus (1473-1543) The Polish astronomer who theorized that the earth
revolves around the sun.

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) An Italian scientist, Galileo furthered the theories advanced
by Copernicus through use of the telescope; his views were considered a threat to
certain religious doctrines, and he was obliged to publicly retract some of his
assertions.

Newton, Sir Isaac (1642-1727) English mathematician and scientist; Newton is chiefly

remembered for formulating the law of gravity.

Andes A South American rugged mountain chain that runs parallel to the Pacific coast,
through Ecuador, Peru, and Chile.

Page 39 of 46
Himmaleh The Himalaya Mountains are the highest in the world, forming the northern
border of Nepal.

acrostic A short poem in which the first, middle, or last letter of each line spells a
word or phrase when read in sequence.

Alexandrian stanza A palindrome; an arrangement of words that reads the same

backwards or forward — for example, "If I had a hi-fi."

tacks The movement of a sailboat against the wind by setting sails and steering back
and forth across the direction of the wind; each leg of the journey is a single tack.

Chatham, First Earl of (1708-78) More widely known as Willim Pitt the Elder, he
supported the American colonists' bid for independence in the British Parliament.

port Bearing; posture.

ephemera Something that has a transitory existence.

gazetted Here, meaning "dismissed."

Spartan fife Refers to the fife, a small flute, used in tandem with drums to provide
cadence for marching soldiers.

Caesar, Gaius Julius (100-44 B.C.) A Roman general, statesman, and emperor, Caesar
was given a mandate by the people to rule as dictator for life; he was stabbed to death
by a group of republicans led by Brutus and Cassius.

Monachism of the Hermit Anthony The construction of the abbeys of St. Anthony

marked the beginning of Christian monasticism.

Reformation A sixteenth-century movement in Europe to reform excesses and

deficiencies in the Church, the Reformation eventually resulted in the separation of the
Protestant churches from what then came to be known as the Roman Catholic Church.

Page 40 of 46
Quakerism Officially called the Society of Friends; a group of Christians originating in
seventeenth-century England under George Fox. They hold that believers receive direct
guidance from a divine inner light.

Fox, George (1624-91) The founder of the Society of Friends (1647), popularly called
the Quakers, Fox preached equality between men and women, and pacifism. The
Quaker doctrine of inner enlightenment is similar to transcendentalists' emphasis on
intuitive knowledge.

Methodism Founded by John Wesley (1703-91), Charles Wesley (1707-88), and others in

England during the early 1700s, this Protestant religion emphasized doctrines of free
grace and individual responsibility.

Clarkson, Thomas (1760-1846) A pioneer of the British antislavery movement.

Scipio Africanus the "Elder" (237-183 B.C.) Until Julius Caesar, he was the greatest
Roman general, defeating the mighty Hannibal at Zama in 202 B.C.

charity-boy A boy attending a school for indigent children and funded by charitable
donations.

interloper One who interferes in the affairs of others.

mendicant Taking the characteristics of a beggar.

sycophantic Trying to win favors from influential people by excessive fawning and

flattery.

Alfred (d. 899) Alfred was the king (871-99) of what was then called West Saxony, in
the southwest portion of England.

Scanderbeg (d. 1468) Revolutionary leader and national hero of Albania.

Gustavus (1594-1632) Gustavus was the Swedish king responsible for making Sweden
a major European power; after his troops marched through Germany, he became known
Page 41 of 46
as the "Lion of the North." During his reign, a short-lived Swedish colony — the only one
in the Americas — was founded in what is now Delaware.

hieroglyphic A picture or symbol representing a sound or a word; best known for being
used by the ancient Egyptians.

parallax The apparent change in the position of an object, resulting from a change in

the position from which it is viewed.

David (d. 962 B.C.) The second king of Judah and Israel, David is the reputed author of
many of the Psalms; the most famous stories about David concern his success as a
young shepherd boy over the great Philistine warrior Goliath, and his love for the king's
son, Jonathan, who loved David with a love that "was wonderful, surpassing the love of
women" (I Samuel 17:48; 11 Samuel 1:26-27).

Jeremiah Hebrew prophet during the period 626 B.C. to the fall of Jerusalem in 586
B.C.; his texts are compiled in the Book of Jeremiah, also called Lamentations.

Paul (c. first century) Termed the Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul was a Hebrew who had
Roman citizenship; while on the road to Damascus, he saw a vision of Christ and was
converted to Christianity. His writings in the New Testament articulate the foundations
for most Christian beliefs.

grandames Grandmothers.

Judas Iscariot (d. 33) Judas Iscariot was one of the Twelve Apostles and the betrayer
of Christ.

Thor In Norse mythology, the god of thunder; he is commemorated in the name of the
fifth day of the week, Thursday.

Woden The Anglo-Saxon form of Odin, chief among the Norse and Germanic gods.

Saxon breasts Part of the American construction of race in the 1800s was the
development of the notion of a "Saxon" or "Anglo-Saxon" race, supposedly derived from
Page 42 of 46
the Teutonic conquerors of England following the Roman Empire; Americans who
wished to maintain an elite class of descendants of northern European Protestants
excluded Irish, eastern and southern Europeans, and people of color from the notion of
"true" Americans.

antinomianism Belief in the religious doctrine that promotes faith rather than

adherence to moral laws.

Zoroaster (sixth century B.C.) The Persian prophet who founded a religious system
that taught that life was a continual struggle between the forces of light and dark.

Locke, John (1632-1704) An English philosopher, Locke developed a theory of

cognition that denied the existence of innate ideas and asserted that all thought is
based on knowledge received from our senses. His works influenced American Puritan
preacher Jonathan Edwards, who modified Puritan doctrine to allow for more play of
reason and intellect, building a foundation for Unitarianism and, eventually,
transcendentalism.

Lavoisier, Antoine Laurent (1743-94) French chemist; regarded as the founder of

modern chemistry

Hutton, James (1726-97) A Scottish geologist, he advanced the hypothesis that

geologic changes in the earth's surface occur slowly over long periods of time.

Bentham, Jeremy (1748-1832) British philosopher; recognized as the official founder of

utilitarianism, which holds that the chief purpose of human social existence is to
secure the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

Fourier, Francois Marie (1772-1837) French social theorist.

Calvinism A Christian theological perspective associated with the work of John Calvin
(1509-64), who advocated the final authority of the Bible and salvation by grace alone.

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Swedenborgism The philosophical system derived by the Swedish philosopher
Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772); emphasizes mystical insight and an idealistic vision
of human nature.

pinfold An enclosure for stray animals; to confine.

churlish Unrefined.

Thebes An ancient city in Egypt, it was a major center of national life and culture at
the time of the Pharaohs; many of its magnificent monuments had fallen into ruin by
Emerson's time.

Palmyra An ancient city in the Middle East, north of Damascus.

Doric The earliest and simplest of Greek architecture, characterized by fluted pillars

with plain, square tops.

Gothic A European style of architecture noted for its pointed arches and flying
buttresses.

Franklin, Benjamin (1706-90) An American scientist, inventor, diplomat, writer, and

philosopher; one of the most important figures in the transformation of the American
colonies into the United States of America.

Bacon, Francis (1561-1626) English essayist, statesman, and philosopher; he proposed

a theory of scientific knowledge based on observation and experiment that came to be
known as the inductive method.

Phidias (c. fifth century B.C.) A great Athenian sculptor, none of whose works survive.

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) The Italian poet renowned for The Divine Comedy,

completed in 1321.

Foreworld The primeval world.

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amelioration An improvement.

Greenwich nautical almanac Initiated in 1767, the Nautical Almanac, published by the

Royal Greenwich Observatory in England, was indispensable to ship captains and
navigators,

solstice The two times of the year when the sun reaches its most northerly (summer)
and southerly (winter) positions, with reference to the equator. These are the longest
and shortest days, respectively, of the year.

equinox The two times during the year when the sun crosses the celestial equator,
and day and night are of equal length.

Stoic One who approaches life rationally, indifferent to pleasure and emotional pain.

Plutarch (c. 46-120) Greek biographer; his Parallel Lives was a source for much of

English literature, including several works by Shakespeare.

Phocion (402-318 B.C.) A ruler of Athens and a former pupil of Plato.

Anaxagoras (d. 428 B.C.) Greek philosopher; he believed that matter was composed of
atoms.

Diogenes of Sinope (c. fourth century B.C.) Diogenes was the most famous of the
Cynics, a group of Greek philosophers who considered virtue to be the only good and
esteemed self-sufficiency.

Hudson, Henry (d. 1611) The English explorer who sailed up the river now bearing his
name and established an English claim to it; he died after being set adrift by a
mutinous crew in the Canadian bay that was later named for him.

Bering, Vitus (d. 1741) Danish explorer.

Parry, Sir William Edward (1790-1855) A pioneer explorer of the Arctic Ocean.

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Franklin, Sir John (1786-1847) An Arctic explorer from England.

Napoleon I (1769-1821) The emperor of France from 1804 to 1814, Napoleon I is

remembered as one of the greatest military strategists of all time.

bivouac A camp without tents.

Las Casas, Emmanuel (1766-1842) French historian; best known for recording

Napoleon's last conversations on the island of St. Helena.

Caliph Ali (d. 661) The fourth caliph — or leader — of the Muslim community, Caliph
Ali's descendants are regarded as the true successors to the prophet Mohammed.

Whigs Naming themselves after the British party of the common people (as opposed to
the aristocratic Tories), the Whig party in the United States was active from 1834 to
1854.

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