Thursday, October 29, 2009
A.L.: Emerson's Aphorisms
Please cite the aphorism that struck you the most in "Self Reliance." Remember, an aphorism is a short statment that expresses wise or clever observations about life. Please elaborate on its meaning and the overall significance and connection to you. Was there anything you disagreed with regarding Emerson's insights? Explain.
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"Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string"
ReplyDeleteEveryone has a gut feeling on something at one point or another in their life. Most who make wrong decisions are aware of their error. Trust in yourself, you choose what decisions you make.
"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 untill he is tried"
ReplyDeleteYou choose what decisions you make.
Khoti
"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 untill he is tried"
ReplyDeleteThe decisions you make, you choose them.
Justin
"to be great is to be misunderstood"
ReplyDeleteyou can't be a "perfect" person or have great traits all the time; thats not human. everyone makes mistakes, it's what makes them normal. so if someone did everything correctly, there would be something wrong.
stephanie
Justin O*
ReplyDeleteabove stephanies
"To be great is to be misunderstod..."(225).
ReplyDeleteI believe that he is saying that when you create for yourself a pedastal, you seem unapprochable. If you become great in any aspect of life, you unintentionally leave others behind. The people you care about and love, misunderstand that you have to live up to the things the world expects of you and you may lose the things that truly matter in your life. You may be great in the eyes of those who don't know you, but the people that know you best now look at you with knowing eyes. Lexi M.
"Trust theyself: Every heart vibrates to that iron string."
ReplyDeleteYou heart beats to the trust you have in yourself to keep living.
Erik C
"society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members."
ReplyDeleteif nobody can trust anybody else then were all sitting around pointing fingers instead of leading worry free lives and enjoying ourselves.
Senske
this blog was made on my birthday XD
ReplyDelete"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 is tried"
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete"To be great, is to be misunderstood" (225).
ReplyDeleteEveryone elaborates greatness in a form that means you are above all and successful. To be great doesn't only mean that, you have to be contradicted. You have to prove to people that you can be great, which comes from being misunderstood. Not everyone can be great but you can always keep preparing yourself to be misunderstood.
-Lauryn
"Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string"
ReplyDeleteI think this means like everyone gets that heart feeling if somethings wrong. No matter what goes on your bound to feel it multiple times in your life
I like Blakes post, that quote makes me think that you get the feeling of guilt, and yes, you do feel it many times in your life. Lexi M.
ReplyDeleteMine was also:
ReplyDelete"Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string"
I think it means that people struggle between mental and emotional feelings toward certain events during their life time. People can mentally make themselves feel a certain way but only the heart knows you don't. By trusting yourself you are going by what your heart feels instead of your head. For example: You can trick yourself into thinking you like someone when only your heart knows you truly don't. By listening to your heart and not your head, you're saving yourself from a heartache that the relationship would've caused.
I don't know if that made sense to anyone but I know what I meant. xD
"To be great, is to be misunderstood".
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion what i think this means is that a human being can't be "normal" to be great in life. You have to have something or be something that distinguishes you from everyone else. That you don't blend in because how can u be great if your the same as someone else?Also that nobody else has to understand you, if you know what you mean than you'll be great.
Kathy V.
I agree with kathy.
ReplyDelete"to be great is to be misunderstood", means you have to be different. you have to have ideas that are out of the 'norm', that challenge societys veirws. thats what makes someone great.
-Hailey T
I like the one that Justin O put. you never know what you can do til you try :)
ReplyDelete"What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think"
ReplyDeleteThis quote is most relevant to my life, and it concerns everybody whether they realize it or not. Society has it's grasp on us. One of it's many "rules" is that you must fit in and do as others do. We are all worried about what others will think of their actions, always causing us to second-guess ourselves. Don't follow the crowd. Decide what you want to do without anyone elses opinion and don't tell others how to live their life.
I don't disagree with his insight, but I think the entire story of "Self-reliance" is a waste of time. He wrote about something he should have just got off of his head by telling to his dog. It is funny to me how people consider the slightest amount of thoughtfulness to be something genius. I highly doubt that Emerson himself lives up to these 'wise beliefs', as they are no more than observations of life itself.
-Nick K.
I agree with what Blake W. said too. His version of the quote makes a lot of sense and is easy to relate to. I think he explained it in one of the best ways.
ReplyDelete"We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents."
ReplyDeleteEveryone express some of our self. But everyone has a secret that doesn't want to share with the rest of the world that they are ashamed or gonna have regrets of.
-Angus
i agree with Ashley S. because its true so people make them believe things that arent true. They make there mind start thinking things that you want to be true or something. But your heart knows its not true and deep inside you know its not true either. But thats what you want to believe.
ReplyDeleteKathy V.
I believe Nick's quote was the best and also had a bid impact on me. Because it is right, it does concern everybody in this world. We are all worried about what others think about us, and we shouldn't do that. We should live our life the way we want, and not how people would want us to. We have control of our lives and nobody else should take that from us.
ReplyDeleteGreg R.