Self-Reliance (Excerpt)
"On Self-Help" (Excerpt)
By Ralph Waldo Emerson
Text/Ralph Waldo Emerson
html 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 kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given him to till.
During the period of seeking knowledge, everyone will one day come to the belief that jealousy is equal to ignorance, imitation is tantamount to suicide, no matter whether a person is good or bad, he must put himself Taking it as one's own destiny, although there are many good deeds in the vast universe, if you don't work hard on the land you got, a grain of nutritious food will not come to your door by itself.
The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried.
The power which resides in him is actually very new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried. , no one knows what skills he has, and even he himself doesn’t know it without trying.
Not for nothing one face, one character, one fact, makes much impression on him, and another none. This sculpture in the memory is not without pre-established harmony.
It is not for nothing that you leave a deep impression on another person but leave no impression on the other person. This kind of carving in memory cannot but be said to have no predetermined harmony.
The eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify of that particular ray. We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents. It may be safely trusted as proportionate and of good issues, so it be faithfully imparted, but God will not have his work made manifest by cowards.
The eye is placed where a light should fall, so that it can see that light. We cannot express ourselves fully and are ashamed of the sacred ideas we each represent. It is quite possible to think that this idea is very appropriate and will produce good results, so it should be faithfully conveyed, but God is not willing to let a coward explain his merits.
A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise, shall give him no peace. It is a deliverance which does not deliver. In the attempt his genius deserts him; no muse befriends; no invention, no hope.
Only when a person works hard can he feel relief and joy; if what he says or does is not so, he will not find peace. It was a relief without relief. While he was still trying, his genius deserted him, without inspiration, without invention, without hope.
