Sunday: "My life should be unique; it should be an alms, a battle a conquest, a medicine."
unique. worth. journey.
unique. worth. journey.
Monday: "Let a man then know his worth, and keep things under his feet.
ownership. validation. self-interest.
ownership. validation. self-interest.
Tuesday: "Insist on yourself, never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another, you have only an extemporaneous, half possession."
insist. conviction. virtues.
insist. conviction. virtues.
Wednesday: "Man is timid and apologetic. He is no longer upright. He dares not say 'I think', 'I am,' but quotes some saint or sage."
independent. creative. thoughtful.
independent. creative. thoughtful.
Thursday: "Travelling is a fool's paradise. We owe to our first journeys the discovery that place is nothing."
freedom. self-knowledge. detachment.
freedom. self-knowledge. detachment.
Friday: "Life only avails, not the having lived. Power ceases in the instant of repose; it resides in the moment of transition from a past to a new state; in the shooting of the gulf; in the darting to an aim."
control. power. instinct.
control. power. instinct.
Saturday: "There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernal of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and non but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried."
individuality. claim. self-reliance.
Is self-reliance possible?
There's no doubt that Emerson really believed that self-reliance was possible. He first argues that we most accept the world we live in: "Accept the place the divine Providence has found for you; the society of your contemporaries, the connexion of events." and then control it, "Great men have always done so and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the Eternal was stirring at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being." I think, too, that Emerson felt that the self-reliance thought could definitely be a reality, but to behave self-reliantly would be challenging and take great strength.
Emerson writes, "What I must do, is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. 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." We must not bother ourselves with the criticisms and pressures of our peers and must lean on our own understanding. Further, a man, according to Emerson, must learn to trust and respect and live with solitude to fully understand what self-reliance is. When men embrace the "independence of solitude" in the midst of society, that is when he has reached the Emersonian definition of self-reliance.
Melville's Moby Dick: who/what is your whale, your obsession?
In class we talked a lot about how Ishmael and Ahab, along with the other members of the crew and how they became totally mesmerized and captivated by this whale. Melville writes of Ahab: "Death to Moby Dick! God hunt us all, if we do not hunt Moby Duck to his death!" It was *all* about Moby Dick and capturing him. Nothing else mattered.
So, what is my Moby Dick? I have thought about this for a while now, and I'm still not sure. But, I do know one thing for sure. I am constantly seeking positive reinforcement for everything that I do. In a way, I am stuck. I do good things and want to do good things, but I also love the reinforcement that comes along with doing good things. I seek out those pat on the backs and "good jobs" like no one's business. It's a huge motivator for me. Like I said, I also do things with integrity and because I personally am driven to do them. However, I think a lot people love the encouragement and feedback they get when they do good things. I am no different.
History: "Melville reacted so hostilely to the optimistic side of Emerson's thoughts" A comparison of perspective.
I thought it would be interesting to compare the two writers biographically, since they seem to be in different places ideologically. For starters, they come from two different backgrounds--Melville comes from a well established Boston family while Emerson comes from an Utilitarian modest family. When I was researching the two, I came across an essay where Melville actually criticizes Emerson and his buddy, Thoreau. Also, one source said: "In Moby-Dick, Melville challenges Emerson's optimistic idea that humans can understand nature. Moby-Dick, the great white whale, is an inscrutable, cosmic existence that dominates the novel, just as he obsesses Ahab." Also, in Melville's letter to Evert Duyckinck on March 3, 1849, he wrote, "And, frankly, for the sake of the argument, let us call him a fool; — then had I rather be a fool than a wise man. — I love all men who dive. Any fish can swim near the surface, but it takes a great whale to go down stairs five miles or more; & if he don’t attain the bottom, why, all the lead in Galena can’t fashion the plumet that will. I’m not talking of Mr Emerson now — but of the whole corps of thought-divers, that have been diving & coming up again with bloodshot eyes since the world began." Woah. Those are so pretty powerful words. To me, it seems that Melville feels like Emerson is a man of talk and philosophy but one of very little true integrity and endurance. And for Melville-- it's all about the chase.
individuality. claim. self-reliance.
Is self-reliance possible?
There's no doubt that Emerson really believed that self-reliance was possible. He first argues that we most accept the world we live in: "Accept the place the divine Providence has found for you; the society of your contemporaries, the connexion of events." and then control it, "Great men have always done so and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the Eternal was stirring at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being." I think, too, that Emerson felt that the self-reliance thought could definitely be a reality, but to behave self-reliantly would be challenging and take great strength.
Emerson writes, "What I must do, is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. 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." We must not bother ourselves with the criticisms and pressures of our peers and must lean on our own understanding. Further, a man, according to Emerson, must learn to trust and respect and live with solitude to fully understand what self-reliance is. When men embrace the "independence of solitude" in the midst of society, that is when he has reached the Emersonian definition of self-reliance.
Melville's Moby Dick: who/what is your whale, your obsession?
In class we talked a lot about how Ishmael and Ahab, along with the other members of the crew and how they became totally mesmerized and captivated by this whale. Melville writes of Ahab: "Death to Moby Dick! God hunt us all, if we do not hunt Moby Duck to his death!" It was *all* about Moby Dick and capturing him. Nothing else mattered.
So, what is my Moby Dick? I have thought about this for a while now, and I'm still not sure. But, I do know one thing for sure. I am constantly seeking positive reinforcement for everything that I do. In a way, I am stuck. I do good things and want to do good things, but I also love the reinforcement that comes along with doing good things. I seek out those pat on the backs and "good jobs" like no one's business. It's a huge motivator for me. Like I said, I also do things with integrity and because I personally am driven to do them. However, I think a lot people love the encouragement and feedback they get when they do good things. I am no different.
History: "Melville reacted so hostilely to the optimistic side of Emerson's thoughts" A comparison of perspective.
I thought it would be interesting to compare the two writers biographically, since they seem to be in different places ideologically. For starters, they come from two different backgrounds--Melville comes from a well established Boston family while Emerson comes from an Utilitarian modest family. When I was researching the two, I came across an essay where Melville actually criticizes Emerson and his buddy, Thoreau. Also, one source said: "In Moby-Dick, Melville challenges Emerson's optimistic idea that humans can understand nature. Moby-Dick, the great white whale, is an inscrutable, cosmic existence that dominates the novel, just as he obsesses Ahab." Also, in Melville's letter to Evert Duyckinck on March 3, 1849, he wrote, "And, frankly, for the sake of the argument, let us call him a fool; — then had I rather be a fool than a wise man. — I love all men who dive. Any fish can swim near the surface, but it takes a great whale to go down stairs five miles or more; & if he don’t attain the bottom, why, all the lead in Galena can’t fashion the plumet that will. I’m not talking of Mr Emerson now — but of the whole corps of thought-divers, that have been diving & coming up again with bloodshot eyes since the world began." Woah. Those are so pretty powerful words. To me, it seems that Melville feels like Emerson is a man of talk and philosophy but one of very little true integrity and endurance. And for Melville-- it's all about the chase.
I do believe self-reliance is possible. I've done it for the last 5 years of my life for sure and the previous 3 years almost, other than living under my mom's house. I've always hada job since I was 15. I bought my first car, bought all my clothes and even cooked 10. I moved out when I was 18 and haven't moved back home. I had 2 jobs for 4 years and paid for my college education. I pay for everything now and support myself 100% on my own. When it comes to decisions though I may ask other for advice but I always do what I feels best. I don't think I could ever be anything but self-reliant and I love it.
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