Self-Reliance And Transcendentalism

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Self-Reliance Transcendentalism is the revolutionary movement of religion and philosophy born in the nineteenth-century. At the epicenter of the transcendentalist movement is Ralph Waldo Emerson and his most honorable works. Emerson’s essay Self-Reliance is the quintessence of transcendental philosophies as it exemplifies the idea that tranquility and true happiness is found within oneself. Emerson’s ambition for writing Self- Reliance is to persuade individuals to follow their own intuitions and moral beliefs as well as to emphasize internal soul-searching taking precedence over external affairs and societal conformity. For an individual looking to better his/her life, Emerson stresses the importance of finding one’s own truth. This point …show more content…

The two principles run parallel to one another in the eyes of Emerson. A strong advocate for unconventionality, the Transcendentalist warns that society is very disapproving of unconventionality: “For nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure. And therefore a man must know how to estimate a sour face. The by-standers look askance on him in the public street or in the friends parlour. If this aversation had its origin in contempt and resistance like his own, he might not well go home with sad countenance; but the sour face of of the multitude, like their sweet faces, have no deep cause, but are put on and off as the wind blows and newspaper directs” (Emerson 20). Emerson wrote Self-Reliance in hopes that others will reject conformity like he has. However, one must be apathetic toward the negativity that surrounds such unorthodox behavior. Emerson makes his point evident that straying from society and embracing one’s own uniqueness is of paramount importance when following his guidelines to becoming …show more content…

Following others blindly will lead to nothing and one must be independent of himself no matter the consequences: “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;. . . “ (Emerson 16). Emerson is conveying that self-reliance is necessary to live a happy and more satisfying life because it forces the individual to pay no attention to the doing of others. Be an independent soul. Every self-reliant person will come to the same conclusion; a life lived by imitation is a meaningless

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