Journal #16 Ralph Waldo Emerson: Truly Revolutionary

QUOTE:

“Act singly, and what you have already done singly, will justify you now” (Emerson 1169).


SUMMARY:

From Self-Reliance, this quote exemplifies Emerson’s main point. He believes people need to act on what they believe is right for themselves.


RESPONSE:

Someone asked me to summarize Emerson’s Self-Reliance, so I said, “Don’t be a sheep.” I definitely agree that following the crowd and doing anything just to fit in is not the best way to live, but I’m not sure if Emerson is also justifying himself for doing whatever he wants. Taking rules, laws, heaven and hell out of the picture so he can feel better about every decision he makes, seems like the beliefs of an anarchist. But in the dictionary, a synonym for an “anarchist” is a “revolutionary.”

It seems like many of the authors we have read so far have been strongly attached to the Puritan religion, struggling with religion but still Christian, or completely Christianized after believing in pagan religions. Emerson, however, becomes “so skeptical of the validity of the Lord’s Supper that he [can] no longer administer the sacrament” (1107). In Self-Reliance Emerson seems like he is explaining how religion is not needed to be “a good person,” but people use religion as the only reason to “do what is called a good action” (Emerson 1166). I think he disagrees with people doing charitable acts as an apology to God.

I sort of discussed this in another journal, referring to how I disagree with the original sin that all people have to apologize to God for, and I think my point basically coincides with what Emerson has written. If I was alive when Emerson was alive, I think I would have loved his journals and would have been a fan of his. I’m turning into a fan now as I read about him and read his work.