The wise man is self-sufficient.
– Seneca, “Letters from a Stoic”
When I was in 10th grade I read for the first time passages from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s powerful essay “Self-Reliance.” In case you haven’t read it, or would like to read it again, you can find the entire essay here. I still remember the hefty anthology book, the stock photos of autumn leaves, trees hanging over ponds, and drops of dew on grass that surrounded the words on the page. And of course I remember so many of the lines, each one as resonant and universal as the next. Emerson’s writing immediately drew me into a whole new vortex of thought and being. His manly voice awakened my own budding manliness. His sharp perceptions answered latent questions within me I didn’t even realize I was wrestling with. He spoke to me through time and space, as though he was standing right before me and even knew me. After that pivotal day in English class, I was struck by literary lightning, electrocuted by the fire of his language, myself forever changed. I even remember talking about the words and ideas to my friend on the school bus riding home that day. Walt liked Emerson more than he did Thoreau, while I loved them both for different reasons. From that point on, even though I didn’t know it yet, I was made forever an acolyte of literature. It wasn’t for a few more years that I officially and happily became an English literature major, and even then it wasn’t until many years after that before I came to realize that he, the great Ralph Waldo Emerson, was in fact my very own spiritual grandfather.
Just this evening, before sitting down to write these very words you are reading now, I once again sat down and read “Self-Reliance.” The masterpiece never ceases to amaze; it is powerful poetry that carries itself onward, riding upon its own momentum and force deeper and deeper into my soul. It is like a river racing down from the mountaintops to the valley floor far below, pooling into lakes and streams, enriching all the land and forest around. Truth spread out upon the page, flooding each word, line, and phrase. In some respects the greatest quotation from “Self-Reliance” is the entire essay itself. It is one giant quotation worth searing onto the hearts of all men. But even beyond the literary stature of Emerson, the actual message of “Self-Reliance” is truly profound, and just as this essay sparked my love for literature, so too did it ignite my own independent spirit, the unbridled manhood I was only beginning to experience, the uncompromising ferocity and fire of my being. Emerson’s voice throughout “Self-Reliance” is one of power and greatness. He speaks with authority and command. This is not flowery, soft, nicetry. Oh no! There is much work to be done! These lines written and published in 1841 were ushered forth out of the depths of Emerson’s most private and meditative Soul, and this is precisely why and how “Self-Reliance” awakened the very same fortitude of my own Soul, the blazing spirit of Truth squirming and bursting free, alive within me. Although as I say the entire essay is a steady streaming quotation, I do want to share a sampling of quotes here with you which always strike me deeply every time I read them.
God will not have his work made manifest by cowards.
Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events. Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not minors and invalids in a protected corner, not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but guides, redeemers, and benefactors, obeying the Almighty effort, and advancing on Chaos and the Dark.
Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world.
To be great is to be misunderstood.
Greatness appeals to the future.
The force of character is cumulative.
The relations of the soul to the divine spirit are so pure, that it is profane to seek to interpose helps. It must be that when God speaketh he should communicate, not one thing, but all things; should fill the world with his voice; should scatter forth light, nature, time, souls from the centre of the present thought; and new date and new create the whole.
Time and space are but physiological colors which the eye makes, but the soul is light; where it is, is day; where it was, is night; and history is an impertinence and an injury, if it be any thing more than a cheerful apologue or parable of my being and becoming.
The soul raised over passion beholds identity and eternal causation, perceives the self-existence of Truth and Right, and calms itself with knowing that all things go well.
All things real are so by so much virtue as they contain.
Let a Stoic open the resources of man, and tell men they are not leaning willows, but can and must detach themselves; that with the exercise of self-trust, new powers shall appear; that a man is the word made flesh, born to shed healing to the nations, that he should be ashamed of our compassion, and that the moment he acts from himself, tossing the laws, the books, idolatries, and customs out of the window, we pity him no more, but thank and revere him,–and that teacher shall restore the life of man to splendor, and make his name dear to all history.
The secret of fortune is joy in our hands. Welcome evermore to gods and men is the self-helping man.
Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life’s cultivation.
Society never advances. It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on the other.
He who knows that power is inborn, that he is weak because he has looked for good out of him and elsewhere, and so perceiving, throws himself unhesitatingly on his thought, instantly rights himself, stands in the erect position, commands his limbs, works miracles.
Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.
Truly I could go on forever, quoting every single line written therein, but suffice it to say this is “Self-Reliance.” It exudes eternity’s wisdom as a rose freely gives its scent. When I was 15 years old I caught that scent for the first time, and immediately these wisdoms became a creed, a manifesto, a way of life for me. It was, and frankly still is (if not even more so now!), the guiding light and framework by which my life can be valued and appraised. The greatest currency for a man to accumulate is his freedom, his self-reliance. We are always haggling and bartering ourselves away in this world. Let the exchange lean towards liberty. Nothing is more permanent, all is connected, we are both forever bound to one another just as each of us is liberated from all things. We are indeed each other’s keeper, but we must ensure it is freedom and independence we demand of each other as this is the greater charity.
When I was in 12th grade in high school, we each had to do a senior project in order to graduate. I forget the name they called it, but it was essentially a capstone project each of us had to complete in order to graduate. The teacher overseeing my project was the very same English teacher who first exposed me to Emerson and the Transcendentalists two years earlier when I was in 10th grade. So it should come as no surprise that the theme of my project was of course Self-Reliance. I discussed Emerson’s essay and shared about what it meant to me, I made my own clothes out of fabrics and sewed them all together, I learned the piano and played some improvisational works. I even volunteered many early mornings and evenings at my good friend’s farm and learned the worthy trade of waking up very early, working hard, and milking cows. I think I even went camping for some time and kept a journal of my experience. I honestly don’t remember all that I did, but those things do stand out in my memory, and yes I did pass the project and graduate. Thank God and thank Emerson and thank you Miss Tracy too!
Then when I was accepted into the University of Pittsburgh just a few months later, I soon found myself in an Honors College English Literature class taught by a professor renown as an expert in American Transcendentalism, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau. As you can imagine the coincidence was not unnoticed nor unappreciated by yours truly. The gods were clearly at play here. Throughout my four years of study there, I worked extensively with this professor, took two of his classes, and even stayed in touch with him and others after graduation. Only a few weeks ago in fact I purchased his award winning book Transcendental Wordplay and had it shipped to him so he could sign it for me. The book is a fascinating study into the use of language in the mid 19th century by the American Transcendentalists and particularly regarding the extensive use of puns by Thoreau in Walden Pond. If you are interested in such topics I highly recommend it. You can find copies for purchase here.
As I look over the arc of my life I see an invisible, divine hand. It has guided me towards key crossroads and stations on my path, and has done nothing but bless me, enrich me, thrill me, and love me. We are all blessed in this way, and of course there are always challenges, difficulties, even tragedies interspersed as well to be sure. But upon reflection, those adversities are not what remains, they cannot prevail. From a certain vantage, all that can be seen are the sparks of inspiration, divine intervention, and magical convergence. This is our life. These are the lasting remains of who we are, what we have done, and where we are going. What lies ahead is varied and sometimes even strange, but rest assured all that shall prevail is the undetected presence of God nudging us along perfectly to all that is true and good and joyous.
These are the roots of who I am. When you read me, you are in some way, reading all of this. Those things that came before us, that molded us as we now are, they are carried along with us, effuse around us, and make all our works fragrant, reminiscent, and potent. We are the accumulation of ourselves. We cannot escape ourselves. Bound by design, we are blessed as we turn about and face fully all that lies before us. Emerson taught me, at a young age, to stand before myself as I am, accept whoever I may be, and carry forth with everyone else in the same fashion. “Self-Reliance” proved to me unequivocally that I am good, and to let that goodness loose upon the world regardless of reception, of others’ thoughts, opinions, or anything else. Life is to be lived not regretted. He stirred a power within me I didn’t even realize was there. The soul is like an animal force, sovereign unto itself, fully alive, harmonious with God and with ourselves. It is a gift of life that blesses us forever, guiding us in all that we do, how we make decisions, and the creed by which we live and breathe. These are the roots of who I am not just as a writer and a reader, but also as a man living life as best I can both on this earth and in heaven.
I remember!