Emerson believes that people don't possess the individualistic quality. Everyone is too focused on the actions and opinions of everyone else, and should take a more personal stance for once. We mimic people too much because we believe that we will benefit if we're the same as the majority. We are all individuals and have our own opinions, and we should embrace them!
Emerson also believes that people are multiform, and therefore have trouble uniting as one society. However, he explains how deep down everyone has a background of unity, and really want to unite as one. This is another reason why some people try to copy others. We figure that if we are all the same, we will be united. However, this is not the case, because our opinions and beliefs get in the way. We have a universal desire to believe, and because of this strong impulse, we yearn to move forward. We crave to be able to waltz up the stairs, and get closer and closer to our dreams.
People gain intelligence and knowledge through what they experience. They gain valuable life skills by actually witnessing events first hand. If society were only to learn out of a textbook, everyone would be boring and completely one-sided. Our experiences help to shape our clay of identity'. Instead of hiding from horrible experiences, we should try to learn from them, and incorporate the morals into our daily lives.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's writing style is very deep and profound, and answered the question of what the definition of experience is. Everyone should live life by being themselves and not by mimicking others. You should be true to yourself, and embrace your own opinions. It's important that you experience life and regardless if the outcome is negative or positive, learn from it. After all, there is no manual on how to live life and you have to learn it on your own!
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
4. What does Emerson think of people who call for consistency in thought and action and who fear being misunderstood?…
- 350 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Emerson expresses several main ideas throughout his piece. He starts out by expressing nature and how everyone views it so differently. The stars beaming down on someone every night, means god is always with them. It is best to experience nature with no distractions, be in your own world when you want to explore so you can actually touch nature. Emerson expresses that nature is beautiful in its own way.…
- 176 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
4. What does Emerson think of people who call for consistency in thought and action and who fear being misunderstood?…
- 390 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
As humans we make mistakes, but the real power is learning from our mistakes. Often we can learn from others mistakes that way we don’t have to feel the pain ourselves to understand why we shouldn’t do something or be a certain way. Also we can learn from history and past mistakes that lead them into bad times and disputes. From literature we learn morals and lessons through the characters position. “We live with our archetypes, but can we live in them?” rightly said by Poul Anderson.…
- 647 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Ralph Waldo Emerson was a very important author whose ideas were adopted and adapted almost immediately after his works came to light. First, in Emerson’s piece, Nature, he introduces the audience to an idea of a transparent eyeball. He states, “Standing on the bare ground, my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball. I am nothing. I see all. The currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.” (1112). The most influential line in this quote is “all mean egotism vanishes.” This exemplifies the idea that it is not a personal experience in which he is undergoing; it is, in fact, a spiritual involvement with the natural world. By using the impression of an eyeball, it shows that he sees all and is part of nature as a whole. “The ruin or the blank … is in our own eye. The axis of vision is not coincident with the axis of things, and so they appear not transparent but opaque. The reason why the world lacks unity is because man is disunited with himself.” (1133). While things in Nature should be seen as transparent, we view them as impervious, which affects our perception within. Emerson also states, “There is a property in the horizon which no man has but he…
- 890 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
In Ralph Waldo Emerson's eyes a good citizen or a good man would be someone who could control their own destiny, who was educated, and they were also faithful to God. Someone in Mr. Emerson's eye that was a good man rely on himself and only himself. This type of devotion and work ethic empower such a man to successes in life. This "man" has the philosophy of "fairness". I say the philosophy of fairness because, fairness does not mean everyone gets what they want or the same as other people, it means everyone gets what they need. This ties with Emerson's belief to count on you and only you because,the only way to get what you need is to make it happen yourself. Also Mr. Emerson saying that…
- 281 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
4. What does Emerson think of people who call for consistency in thought and action and who fear being misunderstood?…
- 374 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
The reader attention is drawn and kept to think about a certain issue that Emerson…
- 761 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Emerson’s tone, to some people might be snobby, or pretentious. But Emerson’s tone is not snobby at all. He is expressing what he thinks “men thinking” or being an intellectual scholar is. Yes, Emerson is very blunt and you could even say harsh. “...but there is no scholar without the heroic mind. He is very blunt and he is opinionated. That is how authors should be. Authors should have their personal opinions and should not be shaken when others have opposing ideas. They should stand by their opinions with full belief that they are right. The man who is fully invested in his opinions or believes so deeply in them, even if they are wrong, is the man thinking and the man/woman that everyone should strive to be.…
- 527 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Emerson believed that “No law can be sacred to me but that of nature” (Self-Reliance paragraph 3) and that society's rules of what was normal did not pertain to him as long as he was living the life he wanted to make for himself uniquely. He observed the way the water rippled, the sun rose and fell, the leaves swayed and the insects lived enjoying the natural and simplistic things that everyday people pass by. He was completely engulfed in his life and maintained the mentality that “What I must do is all that concerns me, not what people think.” (paragraph 4) The way emerson lived was not based on what society approved of, he lived the life that was unlike anyone else's which in his mind was better than sticking with how everyone else lived. What society perceives of him as was unimportant. Being a non-conformist means that you believe in what you believe, not what the superior man thinks. That is not to say that he judged those who chose to live with society and their ways and norms, but that he believed in a different path.The last lines of Emerson’s writing happen strikes most relevant by saying ”Is it so bad then to be misunderstood?… To be great is to be misunderstood”. (paragraph 6) which is how all great men and women lived, unique and…
- 947 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Some ways Emerson’s advice is appropriate to a child’s first teacher and his/her parents is the advice of motherly guidance or a guiding hand. A hand that does not punish harshly, rather a hand that encourages a child to do things, not bad things, but encourage a child to think for him/herself, his is some advice that I think Emerson gives out to teachers and parents.…
- 1336 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
be enough for someone to keep their viewpoints quiet and decide to agree with the majority. Those that believe there is a realistic way out of becoming one of society’s “eaters” would find this an extremely worrying thought because if we were to lose our individuality we would never grow as much as we could as if we let our own thoughts be heard. However, that is the thought processes that people of society are compiled of and people of society will always aspire to be liked by their peers. Ralph Waldo Emerson precedes himself in wisdom in his work, “Self-Reliance”. He states that “Society is a joint-stock company…the virtue in most request is conformity…it loves not realities and creators, but names and customs”, I heartily agree with his standpoint on conformity. Society today encourages many different aspects of compliance, but perhaps the most prominent one is conformity of appearance. There are societal standards for males, females, young and old that make them either ideal or outlying, and most of these standards are dependent upon cosmetic…
- 1084 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
This view has a direct correlation to today’s society. Not just Emerson noticed the central problem of society. In a recent children’s film, Pixar illustrated the consequences of relying on technology. Both Emerson and Pixar encourage self-reliance to save society. The fall of society will be lack of self-reliance, meaning the only way to fix the homogeneity of mankind is…
- 928 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
He writes,”There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide” (20-23). Envy is ignorance. With this, Emerson is saying if anyone is to envy their peers, they are ignorant. Those type of people are clueless to the real meaning of their own lives. In the case of Miley Cyrus, she does not envy other artists. She is exactly who she wants to be and she is not jealous of who the other artists are. No, she is not perfect, nor does she pretend to be; however, she is not ignorant. She knows exactly who she is. Imitation is suicide. Here, Emerson expresses, if someone attempts to imitate the actions or ideas of another, it's killing who they are. Emerson believes that each individual should be his or her own person, supporting the concept of individualism. Cyrus agrees that people should not pretend to be someone they are not, just like she had to pretend to be Hannah Montana. When one imitates someone else, he or she killing his or her own…
- 1638 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Another concept gleaned from Emerson’s essay revolves around how man should not limit himself. A man’s limitation is only set by his own particular actions. Man’s limitations were set upon him during his youth and were therefore instructed on how to think and act all due to various impactful societal norms. He was told to let go of mere foolish thoughts and actions instilled into his youth, because they were seen as being childish or improper. Man has also set his own limitations by attempting to blend, also known as assimilating, amongst society. Emerson also attempts to show that the mankind is plagued by the restraints placed upon one’s self. Largely, man should never set boundaries on his mind and soul. He should feel free to think as he wishes, express as he desires, and dream in the manner which he or she sees fit; all without the judgment of himself or the cruel views of society.…
- 367 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays