Emerson, Fuller and Thoreau
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ters/emerson.asp
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
• Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose original
profession and calling was as a Unitarian
minister, left the ministry to pursue a career in
writing and public speaking.
• Emerson became one of America's best
known and best loved 19th century figures.
• The Sage of Concord and the intellectual
center of the American Renaissance, Ralph
Waldo Emerson, as preacher, philosopher, and
poet, embodied the finest spirit and highest
ideals of his age.
• A thinker of bold originality, his essays and
lectures offer models of clarity, style, and
thought, which made him a formidable
presence in 19th century American life.
• Born on May 3, 1803, in Boston, Waldo, as he
preferred to be called, received a classical
education at Boston Latin School and at Harvard
College.
• Following in his father's footsteps, Emerson was
ordained a Unitarian minister in 1829, but he
experienced a religious crisis after the death from
tuberculosis of his first wife, the beautiful and
romantic Ellen Tucker, to whom he had been
married only eighteen months.
• Resigning from the Second Church and journeying
to England in 1832, he became friends with
Carlyle, Coleridge, and Wordsworth, and began to
formulate his Transcendental faith.
• Quicktime video, 1 MB
THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE &
TRANSCENDENTALISM
• "We will walk on our own feet; we will work
with our own hands; we will speak our own
minds...A nation of men will for the first time
exist, because each believes himself inspired
by the Divine Soul which also inspires all
men."
• With this fiery challenge Ralph Waldo Emerson
concluded his 1837 Harvard Phi Beta Kappa
Address, THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR.
• As his words were received with great
enthusiasm, Emerson argued not only for a new
American culture, freed from European bondage,
but also for a rebirth of an intellectual and artistic
life that was inextricably bound up with the life of
the spirit.
• Before long, Emerson and his circle of writers,
reformers, and artists would christen those ideals
which governed the spirit "Transcendentalism."
• The term Transcendentalism was derived from the
philosopher Kant, who called "all knowledge
transcendental which is concerned not with objects
but with our mode of knowing objects.“
• The roots of the American philosophy ran deep into
German and English Romanticism.
• In his 1841 address delivered at Boston's Masonic Temple , which was later
reprinted in THE DIAL, Emerson attempted to define the philosophy in
simple terms as "What is popularly called Transcendentalism among us, is
Idealism; Idealism as it appears in 1842."
• In reality it was far more complex collection of beliefs:
– that the spark of divinity lies within man;
– that everything in the world is a microcosm of existence;
– that the individual soul is identical to the world soul, or Over-Soul, as
Emerson called it.
• This belief in the Inner Light led to an emphasis on the authority of the Self
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to Walt Whitman's I ,
to the Emersonian doctrine of Self-Reliance,
to Thoreau's civil disobedience,
and to the Utopian communities at Brook Farm and Fruitlands.
• By meditation, by communing with nature, through work and art, man
could transcend his senses and attain an understanding of beauty and
goodness and truth.
• Transcendentalism dominated the thinking of
the American Renaissance, and its resonances
reverberated through American life well into
the 20th century.
• In one way or another our most creative
minds were drawn into its thrall, attracted not
only to its practicable messages of confident
self-identity, spiritual progress and social
justice, but also by its aesthetics, which
celebrated, in landscape and mindscape, the
immense grandeur of the American soul.
• Emerson believed in:
– individualism, non-conformity, and the need for harmony
between man and nature.
– He was a proponent of abolition, and spoke out about the cruel
treatment of Native Americans.
– Influenced by the Eastern philosophy of unity and a divine whole,
emphasizing God Immanent, to be found in everyone and
everything, Emerson sowed the seeds of the American
Transcendentalist movement.
– He realized the importance of the spiritual inner self over the
material external self through studying Kantianism, Confucianism,
Neo-Platonism, Romanticism, and dialectical metaphysics and
reading the works of Saint Augustine, Sir Francis Bacon, Samuel
Taylor Coleridge, and William Shakespeare among many others.
• During his lifetime and since Emerson has had a profound
influence on some of the 19th and 20th century's most
prominent figures in the arts, religion, education, and
politics.
Self-Reliance
• "Self-Reliance" is an essay that urges readers
to trust their own intuition and common
sense rather than automatically following
popular opinion and conforming to the will of
the majority.
• "Self-Reliance" was published in 1841 in a
collection entitled Essays.
Themes
• Trust Your Own Inner Voice
– Emerson urges his readers to retain the outspokenness of a small
child who freely speaks his mind because he has not yet been
corrupted by adults who tell him to do otherwise.
– He also urges readers to avoid envying or imitating others viewed
as models of perfection; instead, he says, readers should take
pride in their own individuality and never be afraid to express
their own original ideas. In addition, he says, they should refuse to
conform to the ways of the popular culture and its shallow ideals;
rather they should live up to their own ideals, even if doing so
reaps them criticism and denunciation.
• Avoid Consistency as an End in Itself
– Being consistent is not always wise.
– An idea or regimen to which you stubbornly cling can become
outmoded tomorrow
Point of View
• .......Emerson uses first-, second-, and third-person point of view. In the opening
paragraph of the essay, he first writes in the first person, telling readers about an
experience of his. Then, after only three sentences, he switches to second person,
as if he is advising a listener sitting across the table from him. Later, in the
paragraph, he switches to third person as he presents an exhortation about
humankind in general. Following is the first part of the essay, in which Emerson
uses all three points of view–first person in black, second person in red, and third
person in blue:
• I read the other day some verses written by an eminent painter which were
original and not conventional. The soul always hears an admonition in such lines,
let the subject be what it may. The sentiment they instil [Emerson's spelling of
instill] is of more value than any thought they may contain. 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. Speak your latent conviction, and it shall be the universal
sense; for the inmost in due time becomes the outmost,—and our first thought is
rendered back to us by the trumpets of the Last Judgment. Familiar as the voice
of the mind is to each, the highest merit we ascribe to Moses, Plato, and Milton
is, that they set at naught books and traditions, and spoke not what men but
what they thought. A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light
which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament
of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his.
Style
• .......Among the most notable characteristics of
Emerson’s writing style are these:
– (1) thorough development of his thesis through examples,
repetition, and reinforcement;
– (2) coinage of memorable statements of principle, or
aphorisms;
– (3) frequent references (allusions) (to historical and literary
figures, such as Socrates, Galileo, Copernicus, Napoleon,
Shakespeare, Franklin, Dante, and Scipio (ancient Roman
general who defeated Hannibal), who embody qualities
Emerson discusses;
– (4) frequent use of figurative language to make a point, such
as “An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man”
(metaphor) and “They who made England, Italy, or Greece
venerable in the imagination did so by sticking fast where
they were, like an axis of the earth” (simile).
Promotion of American Creativity
• Because Emerson eschewed imitation (as noted under
Theme), he urged Americans to avoid mimicking art
and ideas from abroad. He writes:
– Our houses are built with foreign taste; our shelves are
garnished with foreign ornaments; our opinions, our tastes,
our faculties, lean, and follow the Past and the
Distant....Why need we copy the Doric or the Gothic model?
Beauty, convenience, grandeur of thought, and quaint
expression are as near to us as to any, and if the American
artist will study with hope and love the precise thing to be
done by him, considering the climate, the soil, the length of
the day, the wants of the people, the habit and form of the
government, he will create a house in which all these will
find themselves fitted, and taste and sentiment will be
satisfied also.
Emerson and Transcendentalism
• .......Emerson believed every human being has inborn knowledge that enables
him to recognize and understand moral truth without benefit of knowledge
obtained through the physical senses.
– Using this inborn knowledge, a gift of God, an individual can make a moral decision
without relying on information gained through everyday living, education, and
experimentation.
– One may liken this inborn knowledge to conscience or intuition.
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.......Emerson and others who believed that this inborn knowledge served as a
moral guiding force were known as transcendentalists—that is, they believed that
this inner knowledge was a higher, transcendent form of knowledge than that
which came through the senses.
– Because Emerson and his fellow transcendentalists trusted their own inner light as a
moral guiding force, they were possessed of a fierce spirit of self-reliance.
– They were individualists; they liked to make decisions for themselves.
– If the government adopted a policy or a law that offended their consciences, they
generally reacted strongly.
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.......Transcendentalism, as Emerson’s moral philosophy was called, did not
originate with him or his fellow transcendentalists in New England but with the
German philosopher Emanuel Kant.
– He used the German word for transcendental to refer to intuitive or innate knowledge—
knowledge that is a priori rather than a posteriori.
Summary of the Essay
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.......A man should believe in himself. When he has an original thought, he should embrace it and make it known to others rather
than reject it simply because it is his own and therefore unworthy. "Else, to-morrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense
precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another."
.......It is better to exercise the power within yourself than to envy and imitate others. When you are young, you are bold and
independent; you assert yourself. You listen to the voice within and express yourself without bias and fear. But as you grow older,
you surrender your liberty to society. You want to be like others, act like others. And so you suppress yourself.
.......However, if you want to be a man, you must be a nonconformist. Unfortunately, though, we let others have too much
influence over us. These may be men of vanity and malice who take up philanthropic or noble causes–a bigot, for example, who
says he supports abolition but keeps black people at a distance. He loves from afar.
.......Many men think virtue is the exception rather than the rule. They perform acts of charity as if they were paying a fine or
doing a penance."I do not wish to expiate, but to live. My life is for itself and not for a spectacle. I much prefer that it should be of
a lower strain, so it be genuine and equal, than that it should be glittering and unsteady."
.......I do not need or want the approval of other men. What I believe I should do is what concerns me, not what other people
think I should do. Of course, it is not easy to follow your own inner voice, for there are always those who will try to make you
conform to the public will. It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but
the great "man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."
.......Conformity turns your life into a lie because in living according to the will of others you are not being true to yourself. To
conform, to please others, you put on a false face, smiling when in the presence of people with whom you feel uncomfortable or
pretending to be interested in dull conversation.
.......Consistency can also a problem. If you strive to be consistent in all things, you live according to a pattern—a pattern you are
afraid to break out of because you are afraid that people will look down on you. Bosh! "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of
little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He
may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall." What if what you said today is not consistent with what you said
yesterday? Why, then, people will misunderstand you. But is that so bad? Socrates and Jesus were misunderstood. So were
Galileo and Newton and other wise men.
.......I wish we could do away with consistency and conformity. Men who listen to themselves rather than to the common herd are
true men. And it is true men who leave their mark on history.
.......If all men became self-reliant, then all of their activities and institutions would be better: religion, education, the way they
live, the way they think.
Notable Quotations From "SelfReliance"
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Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.
Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.
What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think.
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by
little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a
great soul has simply nothing to do.
Travelling is a fool's paradise.
Insist on yourself; never imitate.
Society never advances. It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on
the other.
The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet.
An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man.
Discontent is the want of self-reliance: it is infirmity of will.
Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you
peace but the triumph of principles.
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Cont.
Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.
Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.
What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think.
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by
little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a
great soul has simply nothing to do.
Travelling is a fool's paradise.
Insist on yourself; never imitate.
Society never advances. It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on
the other.
The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet.
An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man.
Discontent is the want of self-reliance: it is infirmity of will.
Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you
peace but the triumph of principles.
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