Self Reliance

On page 23 Emmerson wrote, "it is easy in the world to live after the worlds opinion; it is easy in solitude 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 solitude." Emmerson is stating tha a true man is one who lives with other people but also remains true to himself at that point. People should be involved and interactive with as many different groups of people as possible but they must stay true to their vurtue and not change their overall self identity. They can change based off other people's opinions in small ways but those small ways should not effect their overall self identity: "All the sallies of his will are rounded in by the law of his being, as the inequalities of Andes and Himmaleh are insignificant in the curve of the sphere" (25). He thinks that first every man must trust himself before he must trust others and therefore develop in his life: "trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string" (20). Although society pushes for conformity, man must not conform because he has to stray strong to his original virtures. God gave us great lives originally because everyone in the world is different, and therefore we must not let what god gave us change but rather adapt to little things.