Self-Reliance

Classics for Your Collection: goo.gl/U80LCr --------- Trust Thyself In a world where people are self-conscious and have lots of self-doubt, the legendary Ralph Waldo Emerson teaches us about Self-Reliance, the success secret of people who do well in life and get success of all kind and more importantly, people who are self-fulfilled. ''Self-Reliance'' is Ralph Waldo Emerson’s compilation of many years' works and the archetype for his transcendental philosophies. Emerson presupposes that the mind is initially subject to an unhappy conformism. Throughout the essay he gives a defense for his famous catch-phrase ''Trust thyself''. This argument makes three major points: that each person has his own self-contained genius, that society and worldly influences must be resisted in favor of one's own individuality, and that self-worth has great importance and value. In the first section, Emerson argues that inside of each person is genius. He writes: ''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 says that only a man who is self-reliant will be successful and any outside influences would take away from personal satisfaction. Emerson claims that examples of people who trusted themselves above all else include Moses, Plato, and John Milton. He then goes on to highlight the value of individual expression. Emerson says that a man should not worry that he will be misunderstood or thought less of because his opinions changed. He writes, “To be great is to be misunderstood.” A man must be willing, every day, to open his consciousness to his intuition, whether or not what it tells him is in conflict with his past conclusions. He also states how a man should still follow his own path even if other people…