Emerson's "Self-Reliance"

This picture is called Sacred Mirrors and it was painted by a transcendentalist painter by the name of Alex Grey. To me, it demonstrates Emerson’s belief that man is the center of things by displaying the man in the center and as the main focus of the photo. It shows a light shining behind the man like the light or power is coming from within him. It shows the inside of the body and emphasizes how the man’s body is made and that he is part of nature.

“Insist on yourself: never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force o a whole life’s cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another, you have only an extemporaneous, half possession. That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him No man yet knows what it is, nor can, till that person has exhibited it.” From Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self-Reliance pp. 547

This picture represents many aspects of transcendentalism. The individual person in the picture emphasizes an individual’s power and reliance on oneself. In the picture, the man has his hand outstretched like he is reaching out for something. This symbolizes that reaching out can help an individual achieve their goals and desires. The background, behind the man symbolized his spirit and strength within himself.

"Self-Resistance"

jpg - www.cafam.org/.../WinterSolstice-725357.jpg

A quote chosen from Emerson’s “Self-Reliance on Page 548 at the beginning of the second paragraph he goes on to explain how the civilized man has built a coach in how we have all these materialistic things, beautiful things, and things need for life that we take for granted most of the time. “The solstice he does not observe; the equinox he knows as little; and the whole bright calendar of the year is without a dial in his mind.” The simplest things in life are taken for granted and things that should be seen and observed have now started to gone undone. This relates back to Transcendentalism in a way of idealism, we have these ideal images and concepts of our lives that are not always true. We need to express our ideas use our resources and open our eyes to the world around us. We are humans and we need to start taking advantage of what is around us we need to achieve goals, tasks, and topics in life. There is a spiritual rebellion out there that we need to grasp and take control of, this picture of the solstice is a part of inner spirituality. Something that does not come around often and should be grasped when it does come around, and take a different look and aspect of the world around us. We need to comprehend out desires and spiritual truths launch our ideas and use our resources.

Thoreau Quote

"Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it.
I think this picture titled "The Ship of Fools" is a good picture for this Thoreau Quote, because it shows all the fools together following each other. I believe that this quote is talking about the government and how they are all fools that follow each other. This quote relates to transcendentalism because it is a more liberal quote and is making fun of the closed minded way the government thinks. It is saying that as long as there are fools that will follow different laws than the fools will keep making new laws. This picture is a imagine of man kind traveling on a small ship that they are barely fitting on that represents humanity. Each character in the picture are fools, and being on the same boat they support each other. I think this is how Thoreau thinks about the government and as long as they are on the same boat there will be no advancements in our country. This quote is definitely something that represents transcendentalism in a nut shell, because it is saying that a fool doesn't follow a liberal outlook on life.

"Resistance to Civil Government"

This picture is regarding a rally being held in April, 2010 sponsored by FreedomWorks, to protest big government and support lower taxes, less government and more freedom. The picture represents the principle of putting ideas into acton by resistance and protest, which is a Transcendentalist principle. During this period of writing, there was a spirit of rebellion. Thoreau shows this in his 'Civil Disobedience'. He starts off with "I heartly accept the motto,--that government is best which governs least, and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically carried out." Thoreau even mentions the Revolution of '75 (1775) on Page 831 of his writing. Thoreau probably never dreamed we would be reading his article and discussing it regarding the size of the government in 2010, 161 years after he published it. This picture shows that people are still protesting being taxed too much, only now it isn't Great Britian that we have to deal with but our own country. I wonder what Thoreau would have said if he were here today and saw how many trillion dollars our government is in debt and how much taxes people have to pay. I think he would be absolutely shocked. Like him, I don't mind paying taxes on education or highways. However, I think the government spends too much money and attaches too many extras to get a bill passed. If you check over the new health care bill just passed, you probably will find a lot of extra costs attached to it that don't have anything to do with health care. The protest rally advertised will probably appear on the news the day it happens but after that you probably won't hear another word about it. However, Thoreau believed each individual should have a voice and should use that voice. You should not just sit back and accept everything the government dishes out. That's the reason Thoreau went to jail for a day. He believed in his principles and refused to pay the poll-tax that was due. "I have paid no poll-tax for six years. I was put into a jail once on this account." (P. 838) In the Transcendentalism period of writing there was a spirit of rebellion and this picture shows that principle.
Jason Richert

Maria McDonough

"To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart, is true for all men-that is genius" (Emerson 533). I chose this picture to go along with this quote because I believe it shows a person who believes in themselves. I think this quote is saying that you need to believe in what you say and what you do, in order for others to believe in you. This picture captures a person who believes in what they do and embraces it. This falls under the concept of Transcendentalism because in a way it shows how ideas can be turned into action. If you believe in an idea enough, you can turn it into an action by following your heart and taking action to put that idea in place. For example, if you believe that you will do well on a test and you continue to tell yourself that and you study for weeks and weeks, you will do well on the test. This is true for all people as well because it shows that if you put your heart into something enough, it will pay off in the end.

Rejected Thoughts

From: Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson
"In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty." The picture I chose represents the rejected thoughts, or discarded ideas that Emerson is talking about in this work. Self-Reliance is about exactly what the title states. It stresses the importance of being your own leader, championing your own ideas, and acting upon things for yourself. Each crumpled piece of paper represents a thought or idea that we have had and not acted upon that we then find to be the brilliant "work of genius" of some other person. Emerson then talks about how we then must shamefully take the opinion from this other person; even if it was something we'd believed all along. I thought this quote embodied a lot of what transcendentalism is about. Throughout all of Self-Reliance, there is a stress on the individual, and moreover, the power of the individual: what each of us can accomplish on our own, and why we shouldn't wait to be followers. This quote in particular stood out to me as an easy way to relate transcendentalism into anyone's daily life. I'm sure we've all experienced the feeling, "I thought of that first!", and can then somewhat relate to what the quote is talking about. Transcendentalism was also about turning ideas into actions. I think the quote I chose does a beautiful job of making that point, and stressing its importance. So don't throw away those good ideas, act on them, and the work of genius can be your own!

"Self Reliance" Matt Lovejoy

http://www.twitalizer.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/stand-out-resized.jpg

"Insist on yourself; never imitate...Every great man is an unique."

I believe that this picture is a great example to Emerson’s quote “insist on yourself; never imitate…Every great man is an unique” (page 547). The yellow man is unique in his own way and chose to be different from the others who are imitating each other. The person stands out not just to others but also to himself. There are not too many stand outs like this yellow man because of the amount of people out there that are afraid of being themselves because they want to be like everyone else. Many people are not true to themselves by doing things to be just like other people just to fit in. When you do things that don’t reflect the real you, you will not be happy with yourself and will end up finding yourself confused. The photo represents someone that has the courage to accept himself as who he really is, not who someone else thinks he should be. A person’s individuality and uniqueness will show much more and affect that person in positive ways when they are true to themselves. In this photo the yellow man is the first person viewers direct their attention towards, which corresponds to a person who is unique and not like everyone else. This quote represents Transcendentalism mostly in the way that the quote has much to do with an individual’s power and self trust. Also, a unique man has the desire to turn his ideas into action. A person must endure in these Transcendentalist thoughts in order to be characterized as following this quote.

Thoreau's "Resistance to Civil Government"

http://posneg.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/ghandi-inembassady.jpg


"If a thousand men were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood. This is, in fact, the definition of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible." (Pg. 837)

Mohandas Ghandi was influenced by Henry David Thoreau's writing and used non-violent civil disobedience to start a revolution in India. The quote by Thoreau is about how it is possible to have a peaceful revolution which is what Ghandi was a part of in India. Ghandi used peaceful resistance against the British in order to achieve his goal of freedom and self-government. As part of the resistance against the British Ghandi asked the people of India to boycott British products and anything that involved the British government including jobs. Thoreau mentions a similar idea in the quote when he says that a thousand men could decide to not pay their taxes as a way of peaceful resistance against the government. Both focus on boycotting the government in non-violent ways to try to change how the government is run. That is how the picture of Mohandas Ghandi demonstrates the quote from Thoreau's "Resistance to Civil Government". The quote is an example of Transcendentalist thought because it involves social reform and the power each individual has to have a say in how our government is run. A part of Transcendentalism is the desire to turn ideas into action. In the quote Thoreau is saying that one thing people can do to take action and protest something is by not paying their taxes. This forces the government to decide whether they want to change their policies and laws or jail thousands of people because they didn't pay their taxes. He goes on to say that by choosing to not take action for something they believe in people will continue to support something they are against.

Emerson's "Self-Reliance"

"How is a boy the master of society; independent, irresponsible, looking out from his corner on such people and facts as pass by, he tries and sentence them on their god merits, in the swift summary way of boys, as good, bad, interesting, silly, eloquent, troublesome."(534 Norton) This is a image of a boy asking to boy a toy for his grandfather. First the boy is dress like a older gentleman which is not the norm. He is also holding which looks like a brief case has glasses and a top hat. He is also in a toy store and is not playing with any toys and doesn't look interested in playing with them. A Twelve-year -old boy is as listed above Irresponsible, troublesome and silly in this picture he represents none of these qualities. It is the opposite he is educated, not distracted, able to state what he wants and is very conscious of what is grandfather would like. The briefcase represents intellect and knowledge. His top hat gives him the man look to him that he is not a child, but a young man that is able to ask and get what he wants. The glasses also give him the intellect look which makes you believe he is well beyond his years. This is not the norm a child would have on a t-shirt and pant especially a child f this age would be running around the store touching every toy and wanting every toy that interest him. This picture is perfect in that it defines what non -conformist is.

Self-Reliance, Jared Borowicz

http://dotcomlifestyle.info

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

"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" (Pg 536)

The picture above is of a group of crystal balls. I feel that this picture best portrays Emerson's quote I have chosen from "Self-Reliance". His quote speaks of his definition of a great man... "is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude" (Pg 536). As you can see the crystal ball that stands out the most is in the middle of the crowd. The ball is gleaming, full of beauty, sweetness, and independence. The surrounding crystal balls are those of the general population that are refereed to as "followers". Emerson describes those that follow others thoughts and actions rather then having their own set of thoughts and actions, he says that "imitation is suicide" (pg. 533). The different shades on the objects can account for Emerson's quote. The darker, more shaded objects are those that are filed with the falls hopes of the government. The majestic crystal ball can be best describe as a pure individual that would go to prison for what he speaks to be his mind. Transcendentalists believed in the same mentality. From our lecture on Transcendentalism, they were said to put emphasis on individual power, Eastern thought, and they were know for the integration of spiritual and material worlds. The quote that I have posed in this blog, has put much emphasis on the people for their right to obtain individual power.

Self-Relience, Matt Theisen

www.galileoscientific.com/images/galileo.jpg
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance
“To be great is to be misunderstood” (pg 538)


This is a picture of a man using a device to look at the stars. I think this picture fits my quote “To be great is to be misunderstood” (pg 358) because many great and brialiant people made discoveries that at the time were considered impossible and absurd. One of them was Galileo. He discovered that the earth rotated around the sun which wasn’t believed at the time because the bible said the earth could not be moved. The church had misinterpreted the bible and intrepreted the bible as the earth was stationary. Galileo stuck behind his findings and it landed him in jail. This quote applies to many other people, especially people that made findings hundreds or thousands of years ago. Findings that weren’t believed to be true. In Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” he lists off some great people that were misunderstood throughout history. He said “Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh” (pg 538). I think this quote explains a transidentalist principle because these people expressed their opinions on the findings and stood behind their beliefs that they were correct. They stood behind their opinion and took the consiquences of jail, torture and even death. After many years when other people could physically prove their theories and beliefs, they were proven correct. I respect this type of great person that will stand behind his theories when they know their right. When it came down to going through the punishments they knew they were going to receive, most people would cave in and change their opinion.

Ralph Waldo Emerson "Self-Reliance"

(mlkviet.jpg." The Baltimore Sun. Web. 25 Mar 2010.

"To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart, is true for all men-that is genius. Speak you latent conviction and it shall be the universal sense; for always the inmost becomes the outmost."

This is a picture of Dr. Martin Luther King giving his "I have a dream" speech. Throughout his speech his states, "I believe..." and he truly believes that one day his beliefs can become the universal belief- and they have. I thought a while about what I should put for a picture, and for some reason this popped into my head. This picture perfectly exemplifies what Emerson has stated. Martin Luther King believed in his thoughts, made his thoughts known, and believed that one day his thoughts would become the norm. He believed that his inner thoughts would become the outer norm, and it did. I don't think we really realize it, but the approach that Dr. King took is in direct relation to most of what Emerson talks about; he portrays a "more liberal thought of intelligent persons". He was very open minded as to how the future could be, and believed that if he believed in it enough, it would come true. This is only a picture of his speech, yet I think Dr. King as a person and his way of going about things is very closely related to the way Emerson went about things and the way Emerson thought about certain things.

Emerson

“It is easy in the world to live after the world’s 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.”

This picture is a photo of my step-father, Roland. My step-dad is a man who is very content in his solitude. Pictured here he is fishing which also reminds me of the saying “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime.” Roland is a very self-reliant man. Not only does he fish but he hunts, camps, and grows his own garden. He is not concerned about the world’s opinion and lives by his own rules. My step-father has many friends and finds that he can be himself and remain genuine under social situations he finds himself in. He does not conform to others behaviors and opinions. I think this picture represents transcendentalism by the individual power people have in providing for themselves. There is not much popularity on fishing as being a self-reliant thing that people do in order to survive but it is considered a sport for enjoyment. Roland does fish for support but he also fishes to put food on the table. One of the reasons I love this picture so much is because of the spirituality aspect to it. He is standing and fishing alone and the water behind him is extremely calm. People can meditate and get a better knowledge of themselves in times like this. Emerson encourages people to be themselves and my step-dad, Roland, is an excellent example of this.

Ralph Waldo Emerson: The Father of Transcendentalism

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/

"To believe your own thought,

to believe that what is true for you in your private heart,

is true for all men,--that is genius" (533).

This picture depicts Galileo Galilei facing to the trial for his belief in the Copernican theory at the Vatican in Rome in the seventeenth century. Even if persecuted, he continued the pursuit of scientific truth until he died at the age of 78. Ralph Waldo Emerson appreciates Galileo's discovery in his essay "Self-reliance." Galileo strongly believed his thought, and eventually, it was true for all people. Thus, according to Emerson's principle, Galileo is definitely genius.

In "Self-reliance," Emerson says that you should emphasize your emotion--that is to say, follow your nature. He believes that if we always trust our own thought, we can live in peace. The truth "self" found can't be arbitrary. Emerson calls the concept "self-reliance." I believe this is one of the basic ideas of Transcendentalism, which emphasizes the power of the individual. He argues that we should express ourselves directly without fears of inconsistency and misunderstanding. You don't need to neither put restrictions on your nature nor shape your view.

Emerson explains how children are so innocent and pure in his essay. Actually, I was a little surprised by this idea at first because it seemed to be very different from the Calvinist doctrine of original sin the Puritans in the American colonies accepted. In fact, Emerson's philosophical essays had a great impact on American culture and literature. I think that his "Self-reliance" reflected a profound shift in religious belief in the United States at the time.

Hiroe Oiri