Self-Reliance

E46515

Self-Reliance is an influential essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson that champions individualism, nonconformity, and inner spiritual authority, and is considered a central text of American Transcendentalism.


Statements (49)
Predicate Object
instanceOf essay
philosophical work
addressesTopic education
ethics
personal identity
religion
society
advocates rejection of blind conformity to custom
reliance on inner moral law
trust in one’s own intuition
associatedWith Concord, Massachusetts NERFINISHED
New England Transcendentalists
author Ralph Waldo Emerson
centralTheme individualism
inner spiritual authority
intellectual independence
moral independence
nonconformity
rejection of social conformity
self-trust
countryOfOrigin United States
criticizes consistency for its own sake
imitation
social conformity
famousLine "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
"Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string."
firstPublishedIn Essays: First Series
genre nonfiction
philosophical essay
historicalSignificance central text of American Transcendentalism
landmark of 19th-century American literature
includedIn Emerson’s collected essays
influenced American individualist thought
American literature
American philosophy
self-help literature
influencedBy Christian thought
Eastern religious ideas
German Idealism
Romanticism
language English
movement American Transcendentalism
philosophicalConcept nonconformist genius
over-soul
self-reliant individual
philosophicalCurrent Transcendentalism
publicationYear 1841
taughtIn American literature courses
philosophy and intellectual history courses


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