Ralph Waldo How To Be Yourself Essay

Decent Essays
Ralph waldo emerson once wrote “to be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” The way people act and what they do makes them who they are. Everybody on this earth is different, no one man was made to be exactly like another. To be yourself in a world that is constantly changing and forcing people to change is very important.
Everybody notices the kid who does his own thing, and stays true to himself. Nobody really notices the child who is acting like somebody else. People are supposed to be different but others try to be just like somebody else. Most people do not act like themselves, so it makes ones that do; stick out way more.
A path of your own is the only way to actually

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    “And then in Earth Sciences I heard a name:’Stargirl.’ I turned to the senior slouching behind me. ’Stargirl?’ I said. ‘What kind of name is that?’”…

    • 311 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Well known essayist, lecturer and poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his text, “Self Reliance”, asserts that each individual should avoid conformity and follow his/her own ideologies to achieve a more enriched life. Emerson’s purpose is to impress upon the reader the idea that they should not conform their lives to the ideology of society; rather they should pursue their own individual paths consisting of their own actions and ideas. He utilizes an encouraging tone to express to the readers that it is possible to be ones own man, non-conformed by societal standards. Individuals must learn to accept the lives they are given rather than attempt to mimic the lives of others or else their lives will have no meaning. Emerson commences the except by stating “There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Amongst the sea of people gathered by the beach stood a man donned in his iconic red and white stripped sweater, round glasses and a pom-pom on top of his head. Waldo embodies the self-definition that one seeks for himself. He created a signature and trademark for himself, and stamped it across the world.…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The aphorism, “Envy is ignorance,” is about how people desire what other people have and don’t appreciate what they already have. People are often envious of other people’s lives, but we are only envious of our own assumptions about our subject. We only see what that person chooses to reveal to others and what we ourselves believe. Emerson’s main message is it is foolish to want to be like other people and you should just be yourself.…

    • 77 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter, introduced gloomy ideas about society and how society affects a person’s identity. This book asserts that "To the untrue man, the whole universe is false, -it is impalpable-it shrinks to nothing within his grasp. And he himself, in so far as he shows himself in a false light, becomes a shadow, or, indeed, ceased to exist,” (page 115, chapter 11). The assentation he claims that if a man is not true to himself, he will be lost in society is a logical conclusion that most people don’t realize. Society can being traitorous to one’s spirit and can result of one losing their identity until one day a person is not the same as before.…

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Difference In World War Z

    • 1093 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Everyone Can Make a Difference Everyone struggles with their identity and who they are supposed to be when growing up. What type of school, job, and life you are going to live is constantly on the minds of millions around the world. If everyone lived a normal lifestyle the world would not be the way it is today. Former President John F. Kennedy said that “the purpose of life is to contribute in some way to making things better” (Goodreads).…

    • 1093 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Henry Thoreau and Ralph Emerson both present strong morals in their essays. Thoreau completely cuts himself off from society for two years. In these two years he learned that people are too materialistic, and believes people do not understand what is truly important. He thinks that we are living how society tells us too rather than understanding what we are actually doing. While Emerson never completely disconnected from civilization, he also conveys ideas about the importance of not being a conformist to society.…

    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Everyone is different, from looks, attitude, athleticism, and so much more. Each human has their own ups and downs, and each person works to improve themselves. In Kurt Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron, individuality is seen as harmful, something that encourages jealousy and low self-worth in others. However, individuality is needed to move society forward: through personal achievements and talent society will improve as a whole.…

    • 1983 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Transcendentalism shows up very often in today 's society without even knowing it. Have you ever met someone who has never cared about what anyone else thought? Someone who always spoke their mind even if they had to be brutally honest. Sort of living based on free thought.…

    • 1243 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    If We Are All Different, Are We All the Same? An Analysis of Uniformity in Thomas More ’s Utopia Individuality is an attribute so heavily stressed in society today. However, since most people are trying to stand out in the same ways, at the end of the day we all end up identical.…

    • 1079 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Personal Identity

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, Life is but a dream.” That is the first song I was introduced to as a child growing up and I never really put much thought into what that song really meant. Was it just catchy to me and I enjoyed singing along to it?…

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Being an individual is to be unique and being their own self. Everybody in this world has different destiny in life and their own struggles, so why be a copy of somebody else. On the hand, it is great to be inspire by a person and use it to push forward in life but not be a copy to the admiral person. Thoreau stated in his story, “To know what we know what we know, and that we don’t know what we know that is true knowledge.” Everyone in this world can be admired person by having knowledge on something, in which it can turn into wisdom.…

    • 1228 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Being myself is effortless over attempting to mimic others’ behaviors. When I am true to myself, I am not required to stress so much about anyone contradicting or having negative opinions to say when I do not choose the same decisions as them. The pressure to look like everyone around and conform to society decreases as I learn my own self worth. Showing my own character by doing what I trust is correct, dressing the way I am comfortable in and by not letting people's opinion influence my decisions , has permitted me to grow as a person. For example, I participate in activities that I enjoy and take classes that I find accommodating, to allow myself to stay true to myself.…

    • 943 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Who you are in society defines who you are as a person, and most people want to be known. Popular Culture has set a limit on who people can be. People do not want to be themselves because they are scared they will not fit in, and people should not have fear of not fitting…

    • 1029 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment" - Ralph Waldo Emerson It means that in an ever changing world, where most people conform to what society has dictated normal and what is not, the greatest form of success is living your life the way YOU want it. By waking up every day and knowing who you really are and never attempt to change just to reach the expectation of the so-called society. It also means that the greatest self-accomplishment you can have is by swimming against the current and being steadfast in your decisions. I can relate this to my life because I've never really tried to change or fake my personality just so I could fit in.…

    • 988 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays