The Influence Of Individualism: Ralph Waldo Emerson

Discuss the texts through this lens by Emerson. What does the quote mean and how do we apply it to the reading and research? How does it connect everything? Should we follow our inner voice? Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “trust thyself, every heart vibrates to that iron string.” This quote essentially means that if you trust yourself, you can truly be content with whatever you do. This quote connects to the Romantic period because of its focus on the conflict between individuals and society and the growth of ideas such as individualism. Many artists of the Romantic era share these ideas of individualism such as Ralph Waldo Emerson in his Self-Reliance essay, Henry Thoreau in Walden, and Emily Dickinson in her poem I’m Nobody! Who are you? Self-Reliance is an essay written by the transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. One of the main themes of Emerson’s Self-Reliance essay is individualism. “There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion.”(Emerson) Ralph Waldo Emerson is explaining that to …show more content…
This book also shares the same themes of individualism and simplicity as Self-Reliance by Emerson. “I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”(Thoreau) In this quote, Thoreau is trying the explain that individuals must listen to their own inner voice and shall not doubt themselves when following their dreams. Following your inner voice will lead to success. “Let everyone mind his own business, and endeavor to be what he was made….Let him step to the music which he hears, however, measured or far away.”(Thoreau) This quote symbolizes the ideals of