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Self-Reliance
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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"Trust Thyself" and Change the World

The heart of Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self-Reliance" is the exhortation to "trust thyself," a deceptively simple-
sounding admonition. Emerson is not advocating for people to listen to their gut feeling when making
important decisions. He is not encouraging people to trust their own sense of right and wrong when
evaluating a course of action. His concept of self-trust or self-reliance goes well beyond the characterization
of truth
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goodness as relative. It is believing that what is true for you is true for all people—your "latent
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conviction" is an essential part of the capital-T Truth. He says, "To believe your own thought, to believe that
what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men—that is genius."

According to Emerson, this radical self-trust is the source not only of genius but of greatness and power. A
person's greatness ows from the "perception that the absolutely trustworthy" is "seated at their heart," he
explains. When this absolutely trustworthy is acted upon, power grows. "With the exercise of self-trust, new
powers shall appear," he says.

Furthermore, self-trust has a revolutionary e ect on both the individual and on society. Individuals who live
with self-reliance gain satisfaction in their work and inner peace. Their genius and honesty, thus released into
the world, transforms human society. Current human society, as Emerson describes it, is the enemy of
greatness and genius. Its norms are sti ing to truth and courage. It is lled with weak, fearful people who
constantly look backwards to history or forward towards some distant future. Yet Emerson does not suggest
people attempt to change society or mend its many faults. What he does suggest is that if people change
their own lives, society cannot help but be transformed. If people live in the self-reliant way Emerson
describes in his essay, all aspects of human society will undergo a revolution. This change will occur from
religion to work to family relationships.

Resist Conformity
In "Self-Reliance" Ralph Waldo Emerson distinguishes between internal and external causes of behavior.
External pressures include societal norms, historical institutions, and other people's ideas generally. Societal
norms dictate donating money to charities and being polite even when you vehemently disagree with
someone. Historical institutions such as the government, the church, and academic institutions use tradition,
precedent, and doctrine to in uence thought and behavior. And other people generally are full of opinions
about what people should do and think. For example, people are of the opinion that going abroad to Europe is
a wonderful way to gain culture and better oneself. There is pressure to (a) agree with this idea and (b) act on
it by traveling to other countries (especially intellectually fashionable ones) in search of opportunities.
Allowing any of these external pressures to in uence behavior is the opposite of self-reliance. Emerson o ers
some of his most scathing criticisms concerning conformity. He concludes, "I hope in these days we have
heard the last of conformity and consistency."

In contrast, Emerson praises the nonconformist, who refuses to conform to societal norms, opinions of
others, or entrenched perspectives of the church or the academic community. True men—humans—disdain
traditions and norms and the appearance of propriety, and harken only to their own intuition in the present
moment. "Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist," he argues.

Divine Providence
Ralph Waldo Emerson's concept of God is the basis of his exhortation to "trust thyself." In addition, his belief
that acting in accord with one's intuition is the foundation of greatness and genius. The self-reliance Emerson
describes in this essay is not reliance on the self apart from God. It involves reliance on the self as an
extension of God's divinity and a representative of the "divine idea." Emerson argues that providence gives
each person an intuition and abundant inner resources. It is by staying true to this rich internal life that people
can fully manifest God's work. First, one must believe that one's own thoughts and ideas are not mundane and
small, but wonderful and important—full of truth. Then one must listen attentively to this inner truth and
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believe it. Finally, one must act in alignment with the inner truth. Acting and speaking this way takes courage
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because it often goes against societal norms and the expectations and comfort of others. But Emerson notes
that "God will not have his work made manifest by cowards."

Emerson says that God gave each individual the ability to add something new and unique to the world. He
notes that divine providence includes a person's situation and work. Each person should exercise the divine
gift of intuition and "transcendent destiny" in the time in which the person lives and the people with whom he
or she interacts. "Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your
contemporaries, the connection of events," he urges. In the same way, each person has work to do to obey
"the Almighty e ort and advancing on Chaos and the Dark." No peace or satisfaction can be found without
doing one's own work in one's own location. Emerson uses the metaphor of a farmer to drive home this point.
"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," he says.

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