Ralph Waldo Emerson was a famous American essayist, philosopher and poet who, thanks to his Transcendentalist stance, believed in the power of individualism and critical thinking, per Britannica. He is known as “one of the most influential writers and thinkers of the 19th century in the United States,” according to the Poetry Foundation. And with his strong views on self-reliance and individualism, our quote of the day hits on his beliefs in what makes a “great man”: being true to yourself and not conforming to what society says.
Emerson was born on May 25, 1803, in Boston, MA, into a religious family, with his father being a Unitarian clergyman and from a long line of religious professionals. Emerson received a good education, eventually attending Harvard College (later University). Even though sickness slowed down his progress in the ministry, he did eventually become an ordained preacher in the Unitarian church by 1829. However, he was already starting to question the institution of Christianity when his wife died in 1831, which fully drove him to doubt his religion and profession. This led him to leave the church in the early 1830s, becoming an “independent literary man,” per Britannica.
As the Poetry Foundation reported, Emerson became a public lecturer (something that lasted for almost 50 years) and then published “Nature,” which was his first published essay and first major expression of his newfound philosophy, which kind of jump-started the Transcendentalist movement in New England. This started his long life of published essays, poems and more. Emerson was also “the first major American literary and intellectual figure to widely explore” classical Asian and Middle Eastern works, becoming many Americans' first look into non-Western ways of thinking and writing.
With today’s quote focusing on Emerson’s view of what makes someone “great,” within the realm of independent thought and individualism, he has some wise words on conformity.
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Quote of the Day by Ralph Waldo Emerson
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“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 quote appears in his very famous essay “Self-Reliance,” which he wrote in 1841.
In the paragraph before this quote, he writes that men like to do good deeds as “they would pay a fine in expiation of daily non-appearance on parade.” He then says that he does “not wish to expiate, but to live.”
“My life is for itself and not for a spectacle,” he writes.
Then, right before this quote, Emerson says, “What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think,” which flows well into the main point of our quote of the day:
“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.”
As stated before, Emerson was a transcendentalist—a philosophical and literary movement created in 19th-century New England—meaning that he believed in the inherent goodness of people and that society corrupts the sanctity of the individual. They also believed that you were at your best when you were fully self-reliant, hence his essay title.
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As you can imagine, this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson goes along really well with the main thesis of the essay it appears in, “Self-Reliance.” The whole point of that is to be your own person and not to bend to conformity. Individualism is fun, and it’s important, according to Emerson. And you know? He’s right!
It is easy to be yourself when you’re on your own, and only have your own thoughts and desires to hear and respond to. But when you live in the broader world, it is also easy to get caught up in what everyone else likes or deems as OK. Whatever the “world’s opinion” is, it can be in your face, making it so simple to just go along with said opinion. Even people who don’t see themselves as people-pleasers or without a backbone can succumb to the general consensus and conform to society because it’s just that easy.
So, as Emerson states, a “great man” can keep the “perfect sweetness” of the individuality you gain in solitude. A stand-up person keeps their distinctiveness—their quirks, personal likes and little idiosyncrasies—despite the world around them. Maybe these things can correlate to the outside world, but they don’t exist because of it.
We can all have our own philosophies in life, and maybe we’re not as intense in our individualities as Emerson would want. Sometimes conformity is okay, or feels nice—who doesn’t love to watch the same thing as most of America and vent about it on X/Twitter? But as long as you have a strong sense of who you are and you don’t fully concede to society, especially at the detriment of your identity, you’re living a good life and are a “great” person.
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More Quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson
“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”“Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? 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. To be great is to be misunderstood.”“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.”“Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.”“Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.”“To be great is to be misunderstood.”“Be yourself; no base imitator of another, but your best self. There is something which you can do better than another. Listen to the inward voice and bravely obey that. Do the things at which you are great, not what you were never made for.”Up Next:
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