Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson Non Conformity in...

In New England, Congregational Church grew into one of the biggest movements of religion, literature and philosophy as a reform in the early nineteenth-century in American history. A group of people including former Unitarian ministers made American transcendentalism started its transformation of the American intellect. These people wanted to reform the church because they saw it as a social religion which did not awake the individual’s realization of his own spirituality. These transcendentalists tried to urge their ideas of the significance of the self in spiritual life. American transcendentalism reached its peak in New England in the 1840s under the leadership of Ralph Waldo Emerson. As a former Unitarian minister, Emerson was at the†¦show more content†¦A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he said or done otherwise shall give him no peace.† (20). He emphasized the fact that people should believe in th eir thoughts and never hesitate to share it with others rather than keep it just because they were afraid of being misunderstood. Referring to God, he meant that the great works can never be done by the cowards. Emerson helped many important people with his ideals in American history such as Barack Obama. Obama also referred to this significant point of Self- Reliance in his inaugural speech and stated, â€Å"We understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of the shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted ¬Ã‚ ¬ for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.† (5). He used the word â€Å"faint-hearted† to highlight the fact that people must not be coward and share their individual thoughts with the world without any fear. He encouraged the audience and urged them that they must be brave in order to earn the greatness. According to this context, a person who does not act upon his or her own thoughts and ideals is an individual who fails to be self-reliant; therefore, he or she is out of God’s purpose. In Emerson’s view, these people who fail to be self reliant cannot fulfill their desires and they cannot be happy or productive. On the otherShow MoreRelatedTranscendentalism Vs Nonconformity1061 Words   |  5 PagesNon-Conformity: The Past, Present, and Everything Inbetween   Ã‚  Ã‚   Ralph Waldo Emerson, the man who started the Transcendentalism movement, was an American poet and essayist. Transcendentalism was a literary and philosophical movement in the 1820’s and 1830’s that was considered an opposition to the previous age of Romanticism. Transcendentalism emphasized the importance of the individual, nature, and the Oversoul, among other things. 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