Summary of “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Self-Reliance is Ralph Waldo Emerson’s philosophy of

individualism. It was first published in Essays in the year 1841 and is
said to be Ralph Waldo Emerson’s finest example of his prose in the
form of a definitive statement.
Emerson, who is known for his repeated use of the phrase – “trust
thyself” which means to have faith in yourself, has woven it into his
work – “Self-Reliance”. It is his explanation of what he meant by the
repeated use of the phrase – “trust thyself”.

Emerson wrote that every individual has a genius in him which comes
out when one trusts himself, has faith in himself, when one can trust
his thoughts, feelings and his desire and passion even after all
disapprovals.

He uses “men” and “mankind” referring to the whole existing

humanity and gives a number of examples of great individuals who
exhibited self-reliance and achieved success in their lives. This
became the base of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s work – “Self- Reliance”.

He begins his work by defining genius as – “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.’’ He further writes that the almighty
has made each person unique and each educated person realizes that
ignorance is envy. He says that the people must seek loneliness for
themselves to listen to this genius and to trust oneself and to hear and
act on the voice of God. He adds, “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.”

He further gives instances of people who have trusted themselves and

have finally achieved success. These include Moses, Plato and
Milton. He goes on further to write that an individual is discouraged
only by two sources, the first one being the society and the second
being the foolish consistency. He criticizes the society harshly calling
it “a conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members.”
Focusing on foolish consistency Emerson describes it as – “A foolish
consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen
and philosophers and divines.’’ To support his view he urges that
“The voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tacks.’’ He
also says that one must be true not to what was done yesterday but he
must be true to the right track and he would surely achieve his goal.

He ends the essay by writing about self-worth. He states “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 says that the people who
believe in the saying – “trust thyself” must value themselves, never
underestimate themselves and consider themselves equal to the great
men of history.