Read on Twitter
I'm reading and annotating some important essays from the past.
Works that might help us on our continual self-improvement journey to thinking better and being better.
Here, "Self-Reliance", by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
/1
Works that might help us on our continual self-improvement journey to thinking better and being better.
Here, "Self-Reliance", by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
/1
Context:
[Source: Wiki]
Published in 1841, it was assembled from Emerson's journals over the previous decade.
It considers self-reliance from all sides:
- why it's important;
- what forces are stacked against it;
- how to grasp it and avoid conformity and dependency
/2
[Source: Wiki]
Published in 1841, it was assembled from Emerson's journals over the previous decade.
It considers self-reliance from all sides:
- why it's important;
- what forces are stacked against it;
- how to grasp it and avoid conformity and dependency
/2
Emerson was described as a member of the Transcendentalism movement, whose core belief was "the inherent goodness of people and nature".
Society and institutions corrupt the purity of the individual, but people to be at their best must aim for independence & self-reliance.
/3
Society and institutions corrupt the purity of the individual, but people to be at their best must aim for independence & self-reliance.
/3
[Aside:
Two ironies:
1. That a self-reliant Emerson might protest against belonging to any philosophical grouping or category.
2. In writing about self-reliance, Emerson explicitly urges his readers to ignore the words of others and look within.
]
/4
Two ironies:
1. That a self-reliant Emerson might protest against belonging to any philosophical grouping or category.
2. In writing about self-reliance, Emerson explicitly urges his readers to ignore the words of others and look within.
]
/4
The text is dense.
The 200-year-old language and sentence structure makes it difficult. It's ~20 pages long, but it took me longer to read than just about any 20-page passage I've read in a long time.
But it's thought-provoking and, with good note-taking, rewarding.
/5
The 200-year-old language and sentence structure makes it difficult. It's ~20 pages long, but it took me longer to read than just about any 20-page passage I've read in a long time.
But it's thought-provoking and, with good note-taking, rewarding.
/5
I found myself underlining several lines and passages.
The rest of this thread shares those notes.
/6
The rest of this thread shares those notes.
/6
On the mix of inner wisdom and self-doubt:
"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."
/7
"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."
/7
On the power of the individual (and why we don't recognise it):
"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."
/8
"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."
/8
On work and persistent self-talk:
"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."
/9
"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."
/9
On conformity:
"The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs.
"A man must be a nonconformist ... [He] must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness."
/10
"The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs.
"A man must be a nonconformist ... [He] must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness."
/10
More on the need for nonconformity, especially against the mainframe machinery of the world:
"I am ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names, to large societies and dead institutions."
"For non-conformity the world whips you with its displeasure."
/11
"I am ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names, to large societies and dead institutions."
"For non-conformity the world whips you with its displeasure."
/11
He is wholly contemptuous of charity in a way that might rankle with many (most?) people ~180 years later.
But these thoughts are interesting. Emergency aid is a good thing, right? But is charity, on the whole, effective?
/12
But these thoughts are interesting. Emergency aid is a good thing, right? But is charity, on the whole, effective?
/12
On ignoring what other people think, in public:
"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."
/13
"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."
/13
On "foolish consistency":
"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."
/14
"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."
/14
On the transparency of character:
"Men imagine that they communicate their virtue or vice only by overt actions and do not see that virtue or vice emit a breath every moment."
/15
"Men imagine that they communicate their virtue or vice only by overt actions and do not see that virtue or vice emit a breath every moment."
/15
On the definition of greatness:
"Greatness always appeals to the future. If I can be great enough now to do right and scorn eyes ... Be it how it will, do right now. Always scorn appearances, and you always may."
(This will interest you, @LewisHowes)
/16
"Greatness always appeals to the future. If I can be great enough now to do right and scorn eyes ... Be it how it will, do right now. Always scorn appearances, and you always may."
(This will interest you, @LewisHowes)
/16
Great virtue is available to everyone:
"Kingdom and lordship, power and estate are a gaudier vocabulary than private John and Edward in a small house and common day's work: but the things of life are the same to both ... As great a stake depends on your private act today."
/17
"Kingdom and lordship, power and estate are a gaudier vocabulary than private John and Edward in a small house and common day's work: but the things of life are the same to both ... As great a stake depends on your private act today."
/17
On inner wisdom:
"Inquiry leads us to that source, at once the essence of genius, the essence of virtue, and the essence of life, which we call Spontaneity or Instinct. We denote this primary wisdom as Intuition. All later teachings are tuition..."
/18
"Inquiry leads us to that source, at once the essence of genius, the essence of virtue, and the essence of life, which we call Spontaneity or Instinct. We denote this primary wisdom as Intuition. All later teachings are tuition..."
/18
On the sixth sense all of us have for truth:
"We lie in the lap of immense intelligence, which makes us organs of its activity and receivers of its truth. When we discern justice, when we discern truth, we do nothing of ourselves, but allow a passage to its beams."
/19
"We lie in the lap of immense intelligence, which makes us organs of its activity and receivers of its truth. When we discern justice, when we discern truth, we do nothing of ourselves, but allow a passage to its beams."
/19
On the wholeness of the individual:
/20
/20
The essay finishes with a listicle 
Four long sections on:
1. Prayer
2. Travel
3. Imitation
4. Society
/21
Four long sections on:
1. Prayer
2. Travel
3. Imitation
4. Society
/21
In short:
1. PRAYER
Pray in unity with the universe, not for one's own benefit or salvation.
"Prayer as a means to effect a private end is theft and meanness. It supposes dualism and not unity in nature and consciousness."
/22
1. PRAYER
Pray in unity with the universe, not for one's own benefit or salvation.
"Prayer as a means to effect a private end is theft and meanness. It supposes dualism and not unity in nature and consciousness."
/22
2. TRAVEL
Do not travel to find oneself.
"At home I dream that at Naples, at Rome, I can be intoxicated with beauty, and lose my sadness ... [I] wake up in Naples and there beside me is the stern Fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from."
/23
Do not travel to find oneself.
"At home I dream that at Naples, at Rome, I can be intoxicated with beauty, and lose my sadness ... [I] wake up in Naples and there beside me is the stern Fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from."
/23
3. IMITATION
Never, ever imitate. Find yourself, and be that.
"Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation, but of the adopted talent of another, you have only an extemporaneous, half possession."
/24
Never, ever imitate. Find yourself, and be that.
"Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation, but of the adopted talent of another, you have only an extemporaneous, half possession."
/24
4. SOCIETY
True power lies within.
"He who knows that [he is] weak only because he has looked for good out of him and elsewhere, and throws himself unhesitatingly on his thought, instantly rights himself, stands in the erect position, commands his limbs, works miracles."
/end
True power lies within.
"He who knows that [he is] weak only because he has looked for good out of him and elsewhere, and throws himself unhesitatingly on his thought, instantly rights himself, stands in the erect position, commands his limbs, works miracles."
/end
