Ralph Waldo Emerson

A detailed Summary of Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson I am writing this essay on the beliefs and thoughts of Ralph Waldo Emerson on the subjects of individuality, society, government, technology, and spirituality.

I think that Emerson believes that every person should be as much as individual as they can. Be who you are on the inside, don't try to be like everyone else. Don't worry about fitting in, if someone is a real friend, they will like you for who you are, real friends won't dump you for being yourself.

When Emerson says "Insist on yourself; never imitate." he is saying that you should act like you are on the inside; don't try to be like someone else. Be your own person and strive to be as different from everyone else as much as you can. Emerson said that your mind is your own, and no one can touch it. You can think what you want to think, and no one can change that. He describes this belief in the quote "Nothing is at last sacred, but the integrity of your own mind." People can mess with every other part of you, but your mind they can't reach.

Emerson is quoted as saying "My life is for itself and not for a spectacle." I think that he means that each and every person has their own life to live and that they shouldn't devote their time to

"The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost he use of his feet." Here Emerson is saying that as we get better and better technology we become lazier and lazier. People get so used to technological conveniences that without them everyone would be lost.

"Don't trust children with edge tools, don't trust man, great God, with more power than he has, until he has learned to use that little better. What a hell should we make of the world if we could do what we would! Put a button on the foil till the young fencers have learned not to put each others eyes out." Here Emerson is explaining that that if anyone is given too much power too quickly, before they have the responsibility to handle that amount of power, they will abuse it. It is better to work your way up with the amount of power that you give someone, don't throw it all at the person at once.

Society tells you how to act, how to dress, how to look, and how to live. You should do things how you feel that they should be done, not how society tells you to do them. Emerson says that "Society everywhere is in a conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members." Most of the time society's views and your views will not coincide with each other.

Emerson says that that "The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common." He believes that if you can see the intricacies and complexities of everyday life then you are very wise.

Emerson feels that "An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man." So he thinks that in every s

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Approximate Word count = 1034
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People