Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1841) Selected Passages
Updated: Oct 16
About Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) was an American essayist, poet, and lecturer whose writings helped shape nineteenth-century American intellectual and literary life. A leading figure in the Transcendentalist movement, Emerson challenged established assumptions about religion, education, society, and the individual's relationship to truth.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Emerson initially trained for the ministry but eventually left his position as a Unitarian minister. His growing dissatisfaction with religious institutions contributed to a philosophy that emphasized individual judgment, spiritual independence, and the possibility of discovering truth through personal experience.
Emerson's major works include Nature (1836), Essays: First Series (1841), and Essays: Second Series (1844). His ideas influenced generations of American writers and thinkers, including Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman.
Historical and Literary Context
Self-Reliance emerged during a period of profound intellectual and social change in the United States. Industrial development, religious reform, and expanding democratic ideals encouraged Americans to reconsider the relationship between the individual and established institutions.
Emerson was closely associated with Transcendentalism, a movement that developed in New England during the 1830s. Influenced by European Romanticism, German philosophy, and religious thought, Transcendentalists emphasized intuition, individual conscience, and the spiritual significance of nature. They questioned the assumption that truth must be received from religious authorities, inherited traditions, or established social conventions.
For Emerson, intellectual independence required more than rejecting conventional opinions. It demanded the courage to examine one's convictions and act upon them, even when doing so invited misunderstanding or criticism.
About the Essay
First published in Essays: First Series in 1841, Self-Reliance remains one of Emerson's most influential works. Its central argument is that individuals must learn to trust their own judgment rather than surrender their convictions to social expectations.
Emerson challenges the tendency to imitate others, seek public approval, and preserve consistency merely to avoid contradiction. He argues that genuine intellectual and moral independence requires individuals to resist conformity and remain open to the development of their own understanding.
Yet Self-Reliance is not simply an invitation to pursue personal desires without restraint. Emerson's conception of self-trust raises difficult questions about the relationship between individual conviction and social responsibility. How can we distinguish independent judgment from stubbornness? When does resistance to conformity become a moral necessity, and when might it become a refusal to learn from others?
These tensions give the essay much of its enduring significance. Rather than offering a straightforward formula for personal success, Emerson asks readers to reconsider the sources of their beliefs and the extent to which their lives are shaped by the expectations of others.
Self-Reliance (1841)
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Selected Passages
The following selections are drawn from Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay Self-Reliance, first published in Essays: First Series (1841). The passages retain the author's historical language and spelling. Ellipses indicate omitted portions of the original essay.
There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide¹; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, 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. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried. Not for nothing one face, one character, one fact makes much impression on him, and another none. It is not without pre-established harmony², this sculpture in the memory. The eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify of that particular ray. Bravely let him speak the utmost syllable of his confession. We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents. It may be safely trusted as proportionate and of good issues, so it be faithfully imparted, but God will not have his work made manifest by cowards. It needs a divine man to exhibit any thing divine. A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise, shall give him no peace. It is a deliverance which does not deliver. In the attempt his genius deserts him; no muse befriends; no invention, no hope.
Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine Providence³ has found for you; the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events. Great men have always done so and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the Eternal was stirring at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not pinched in a corner, not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but redeemers and benefactors, pious aspirants to be noble clay plastic under the Almighty effort, let us advance and advance on Chaos and the Dark...
These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. Society is a joint-stock company⁴ in which the members agree for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater, the virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs.
Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms⁵ must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of our own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage⁶ of the world...
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin⁷ of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines⁸. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Out upon your guarded lips! Sew them up with packthread⁹, do. Else, if you would be a man, speak what you think today in words as hard as cannon balls, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said today. Ah, then, exclaim the aged ladies, you shall be sure to be misunderstood. Misunderstood! It is a right fool’s word. Is it so bad then to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.
Notes
1. Imitation is suicide: A metaphor suggesting that imitating others destroys one's intellectual independence and individuality.
2. Pre-established harmony: A philosophical concept associated with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716), who proposed that the universe operates according to a divinely established harmony.
3. Providence: Divine guidance or the ordering of human affairs by God.
4. Joint-stock company: A business organization in which investors share ownership and financial interests. Emerson uses it as a metaphor for society.
5. Immortal palms: Palm branches traditionally symbolize victory, honour, and lasting achievement.
6. Suffrage: Approval or support; here, the recognition or endorsement of others rather than the modern political meaning of voting rights.
7. Hobgoblin: A mischievous or frightening imaginary creature. Emerson uses the word figuratively to ridicule an excessive concern with consistency.
8. Divines: Theologians or members of the clergy, particularly those regarded as authorities on religious matters.
9. Packthread: Strong, coarse thread traditionally used for tying parcels or packages.
For Teachers
Suggested Grade Levels: 11–12
Genre: Philosophical essay / Literary nonfiction
Central Themes: Individuality, self-reliance, nonconformity, intellectual independence, personal conviction, social expectations
Literary Features: Aphorism, metaphor, analogy, allusion, rhetorical questions, repetition, paradox
Classroom Considerations
Emerson's Self-Reliance offers opportunities to examine the relationship between individual judgment and social conformity. Its combination of philosophical argument, figurative language, and forceful rhetorical expression makes it particularly suitable for close reading, paraphrasing, and analytical writing.
Students may benefit from a brief introduction to American Transcendentalism and its emphasis on intuition, individual conscience, and independence from established authority. Attention should also be given to Emerson's historical context and his use of religious and philosophical references.
The essay's extended sentences, abstract vocabulary, and sometimes paradoxical claims may present challenges even for proficient readers. Encouraging students to identify individual propositions, restate complex passages in their own words, and distinguish Emerson's arguments from the metaphors used to express them can support comprehension without oversimplifying the text.
Suggested Discussion Questions
What does Emerson mean when he declares that “imitation is suicide”? How does this statement contribute to his understanding of individuality?
Why does Emerson compare society to a joint-stock company? What does this analogy suggest about the relationship between social security and personal independence?
How does Emerson distinguish genuine moral conviction from conformity to accepted ideas of goodness?
What does Emerson mean by “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds”? Under what circumstances might changing one's convictions represent intellectual growth rather than weakness?
To what extent can Emerson's ideal of self-reliance be reconciled with the responsibilities individuals have toward their communities?
Delphi Learning Press — Nonfiction Collection
✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧
Comments