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Transcendentalism: Exert from Emersons Self-Reliance

A man should learn to [discover] and watch Where does Emerson say a man
should learn to trust from?
that gleam of light which flashes across his
mind from within, more than [poets] and
[scholars]. Yet he dismisses without notice his Why dont people usually trust the
source?
thought, because it is his Trust thyself: every
heart vibrates to that iron string.
Great men have always done so, and [limited] How does Emerson say we restrict
ourselves?
themselves childlike to the genius of their
age, betraying their perception that the
absolutely trustworthy was seated at their
heart, working through their hands,
[established] in all their being.
What I must do is all that concerns me, not What concerns Emerson? What
doesnt?
what the people think. It is the harder,
because you will always find those who think
they know what is your duty better than you
Why is it hard to do?
know it. It is easy in the world to live after the
world's opinion; it is easy in [aloneness] 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
[aloneness].
1. What is the main idea behind these exerts from Self-Reliance?
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2. Do you agree with Emersons philosophy? Why or why not?
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3. Why might the ideas found in Self-Reliance have aided attempts to reform/improve
society?
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