The Essay on Self-relianceRoycroft Shop, 1905 - 51 pages |
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Page 2
... 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 2 SELF - RELIANCE.
... 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 2 SELF - RELIANCE.
Page 4
... face and behavior of children , babes and even brutes . That divided and rebel mind , that distrust of a sentiment ... faces , we are disconcerted . Infancy conforms to nobody : all conform to it , so that one babe commonly makes four or ...
... face and behavior of children , babes and even brutes . That divided and rebel mind , that distrust of a sentiment ... faces , we are disconcerted . Infancy conforms to nobody : all conform to it , so that one babe commonly makes four or ...
Page 12
... face and figure , and acquire by degrees the gentlest asinine expression . re There is a mortifying experience in particular which does not fail to wreak itself also in the general history ; I mean , " the foolish face of praise , " the ...
... face and figure , and acquire by degrees the gentlest asinine expression . re There is a mortifying experience in particular which does not fail to wreak itself also in the general history ; I mean , " the foolish face of praise , " the ...
Page 13
... face . The by- standers look askance on him in the public street or in the friend's parlor . If this aversa- tion had its origin in contempt and resistance like his own , he might well go home with a sad countenance ; but the sour faces ...
... face . The by- standers look askance on him in the public street or in the friend's parlor . If this aversa- tion had its origin in contempt and resistance like his own , he might well go home with a sad countenance ; but the sour faces ...
Page 18
... face of custom , and trade , and office , the fact which is the upshot of all history , that there is a great responsible Thinker and Actor mov- ing wherever moves a man ; that a true man belongs to no other time or place , but is the ...
... face of custom , and trade , and office , the fact which is the upshot of all history , that there is a great responsible Thinker and Actor mov- ing wherever moves a man ; that a true man belongs to no other time or place , but is the ...
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Common terms and phrases
aboriginal affect alms ance apologetic ashamed better bring you peace called cation church conformity consciousness contem dict discern divine doctrine duties EAST AURORA ESSAY ON SELF-RELIANCE fact feel feet foolish force foreign Galileo genius godlike Hampshire hear heart henceforward highest hope idol imagination imitation immortal impure action indepen institutions intellect intoxicated Italy lative light live lose manhood MCMV means memory mendicant metaphysics mind Misunder Naples nature never noble past act perception perfect person poraries prayer proceedeth Quakerism rage RALPH WALDO EMERSON reliance religion rich Rome ROYCROFT ROYCROFT SHOP Scipio seek self-trust Shakspeare shame society Socrates solitude soul sour face speak spiracy spirit spontaneous stand stay at home stoic tain tell thee things thou thought tion to-day to-morrow Travelling true truth universal vate virtue voice wake want of self-reliance whole wisdom young
Popular passages
Page 15 - A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.
Page 2 - 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.
Page 2 - 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.
Page 29 - Life only avails, not the having lived. Power ceases in the instant of repose; it resides in the moment of transition from a past to a new state, in the shooting of the gulf, in the darting to an aim. This one fact the world hates, that the soul becomes; for that forever degrades the past, turns all riches to poverty, all reputation to a shame, confounds the saint with the rogue, shoves Jesus and Judas equally aside.
Page 14 - Why drag about this monstrous corpse of your memory, lest you contradict somewhat you have stated in this or that public place? Suppose you should contradict yourself; what then? It seems to be a rule of wisdom never to rely on your memory alone, scarcely even in acts of pure memory, but to bring the past for judgment into the thousand-eyed present, and live ever in a new day.
Page 43 - We imitate; and what is imitation but the travelling of the mind? 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.
Page 6 - But the man is as it were clapped into jail by his consciousness. As soon as he has once acted or spoken with eclat he is a committed person, watched by the sympathy or the hatred of hundreds, whose affections must now enter into his account. There is no Lethe for this.
Page 44 - Insist on yourself; never imitate. 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. That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him.
Page 38 - It supposes dualism and not unity in nature and consciousness. As soon as the man is at one with God, he will not beg. He will then see prayer in all action. The prayer of the farmer kneeling in his field to weed it, the prayer of the rower kneeling with the stroke of his oar, are true prayers heard throughout nature, though for cheap ends. Caratach, in Fletcher's Bonduca, when admonished to inquire the mind of the god Audate, replies, — " His hidden meaning lies in our endeavors ; Our valors are...
Page 39 - The secret of fortune is joy in our hands. Welcome evermore to gods and men is the self-helping man. For him all doors are flung wide ; him all tongues greet, all honors crown, all eyes follow with desire. Our love goes out to him and embraces him because he did not need it. We solicitously and apologetically caress and celebrate him because he held on his way and scorned our disapprobation. The gods love him because men hated him. " To the persevering mortal," said Zoroaster, " the blessed Immortals...