Self-Reliance: Paragraphs 1-2 Summary & Analysis

Emerson includes three epigraphs, one that translates as “Do not seek for things outside of yourself,” another from a poem by Beaumont and Fletcher that emphasizes that a person’s fate is not determined by the stars, and a third that praises the “power and speed” of a child raised in the wilds of nature.

Emerson opens the essay by mentioning that he read a poem and found himself stirred by its unconventionality. He notes that truly original art frequently has that impact, and that the feelings such a work stirs are more important than the thoughts it contains. To place one’s thoughts out in the world because one believes they reveal something universal is what makes an individual a genius, Emerson says, but he believes that most ordinary people never speak such thoughts out loud, which is a shame. Emerson thinks people should learn to pay attention to intuitions when they arise, and should voice them, because they are worth even more than the pronouncements of a famous writer or philosopher. What a shame it is, he says, to have a moment of intuition without sharing it, only to hear the same thought expressed by another person.

Emerson believes that every individual has a moment in their life when they recognize that envy is poisonous, a lack of originality is destructive, and that it is important to accept oneself. He argues that each person has to do their own work to discover themselves and the goodness that is in the world. Every person is unique by the design of the universe, and God will never reward insight to the person who is not brave enough to embrace what makes him unique.