Self - reliance - wikipedia Self - reliance This article is about the essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson. For other uses, see Self - reliance. Ralph Waldo Emerson 's essay called for staunch individualism. `` Self - Reliance '' is an 1841 essay written by American transcendentalist philosopher and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. It contains the most thorough statement of one of Emerson 's recurrent themes, the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency, and follow their own instincts and ideas. It is the source of one of Emerson 's most famous quotations : `` A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. '' This essay is an analysis into the nature of the `` aboriginal self on which a universal reliance may be grounded. '' Contents 1 History 2 Themes 3 Criticism 4 In popular culture 5 References 6 Bibliography 6.1 Editions 6.2 Criticism 7 External links History The first hint of the philosophy that would become `` Self - Reliance '' was presented by Ralph Waldo Emerson as part of a sermon in September 1830 a month after his first marriage. His wife Ellen was sick with tuberculosis and, as Emerson 's biographer Robert D. Richardson wrote, `` Immortality had never been stronger or more desperately needed ! '' From 1836 into 1837, Emerson presented a series of lectures on the philosophy of history at Boston 's Masonic Temple. These lectures were never published separately, but many of his thoughts in these were later used in `` Self - Reliance '' and several other essays. Later lectures by Emerson led to public censure of his radical views, the staunch defense of individualism in `` Self - Reliance '' being a possible reaction to that censure. `` Self - Reliance '' was first published in his 1841 collection, Essays : First Series. Emerson helped start the beginning of the Transcendentalist movement in America. `` Self - Reliance '' is one of Emerson 's most famous essays. Emerson wrote on `` individualism, personal responsibility, and nonconformity. '' The Transcendentalist movement flourished in New England, and proposed a revolutionarily new philosophy of life. This new philosophy drew upon old ideas of Romanticism, Unitarianism, and German Idealism. Some of these ideas pertained closely to the values of America at the time. These values included nature, individualism, and reform, and can be noted in Emerson 's essay. Themes Individual authority : Emerson mentions that citizens control the government so they have control. He also mentions how `` nothing has authority over the self. '' He says, `` History can not bring enlightenment ; only individual searching can. '' He believes that truth is inside a person and this is authority, not institutions like religion. Nonconformity : Emerson states, `` Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. '' He counsels his readers to do what they think is right no matter what others think. Solitude and the community : Emerson wrote how the community is a distraction to self - growth, by friendly visits, and family needs. He advocates more time being spent reflecting on one 's self. This can also happen in the community by a strong self - confidence. This would help the counseled to not sway from his beliefs in groups of people. Spirituality : Truth is within one 's self. Emerson posits that reliance upon institutionalized religion hinders the ability to grow mentally as an individual. Criticism Herman Melville 's Moby - Dick has been read as a critique of Emerson 's philosophy of self - reliance, embodied particularly in the life and death of Ahab. Melville 's critique of self - reliance as a way of life is seen to lie in its destructive potential, especially when taken to extremes. Richard Chase writes that for Melville, ' Death -- spiritual, emotional, physical -- is the price of self - reliance when it is pushed to the point of solipsism, where the world has no existence apart from the all - sufficient self. ' In that regard, Chase sees Melville 's art as antithetical to that of Emerson 's thought, in that Melville ' ( points ) up the dangers of an exaggerated self - regard, rather than, as (... ) Emerson loved to do, ( suggested ) the vital possibilities of the self. ' Newton Arvin further suggests that self - reliance was, for Melville, really the ' ( masquerade in kingly weeds of ) a wild egoism, anarchic, irresponsible, and destructive. ' In popular culture Emerson 's quote, `` A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, '' is a running joke in the 1998 film Next Stop Wonderland. A single woman ( portrayed by Hope Davis ), who is familiar with the Emerson quote, goes on dates with several men, each of whom tries to impress her by referencing the line, but misquotes it and misattributes it to W.C. Fields, Karl Marx, or Cicero. The woman finally meets a man ( portrayed by Alan Gelfant ) who correctly attributes the quote to Emerson. Early in his career the writer Isaac Asimov co-authored the textbook Biochemistry and Human Metabolism. While reviewing the galley proofs of each author 's contribution, he and his two colleagues would frequently encounter differences in matters such as the spelling, capitalization and hyphenation of technical words and terms. Rather than undergo the laborious task of harmonizing all these trivial variations, hearkening to the `` foolish consistency '' statement they would all call out `` Emerson '' when one of these was encountered and pass directly on to the next item. It is also quoted in the Python Style guide for the Python programming language. References Jump up ^ Ralph Waldo Emerson ( 1803 -- 1882 ) Bartleby.com, Inc., 1841. Jump up ^ Baldwin, Neil ( 2005 ). The American Revelation. New York : St. Martin 's Press. pp. 61 -- 78. ^ Jump up to : Richardson, Robert D. Jr. Emerson : The Mind on Fire. Berkeley, California : University of California Press, 1995 : 99. ISBN 0 - 520 - 08808 - 5. Jump up ^ McAleer, John. Ralph Waldo Emerson : Days of Encounter. Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 1984 : 105. ISBN 0 - 316 - 55341 - 7. Jump up ^ Richardson, Robert D. Jr. Emerson : The Mind on Fire. Berkeley, California : University of California Press, 1995 : 257. ISBN 0 - 520 - 08808 - 5 Jump up ^ Richardson, Robert D. Jr. Emerson : The Mind on Fire. Berkeley, California : University of California Press, 1995 : 300. ISBN 0 - 520 - 08808 - 5. Jump up ^ Myerson, Joel ( 2000 ). Transcendentalism : A Reader. New York : Oxford University Press. pp. 318 -- 339. ^ Jump up to : Hacht, Anne, ed. ( 2007 ). `` Major Works '' Literary Themes for Students : The American Dream. Detroit : Gale. pp. 453 -- 466. Retrieved November 25, 2014. ^ Jump up to : Chase, Richard, ed. ( 1962 ). `` Melville and Moby - Dick ''. Melville : a Collection of Critical Essays. Spectrum. pp. 56 -- 61. Jump up ^ Melville, Herman ( 1981 ). Arvin, Newton, ed. Moby - Dick. Bantam. pp. 549 -- 558. ISBN 0 - 553 - 21311 - 3. Jump up ^ O'Sullivan, Michael ( August 28, 1998 ). `` ' Next Stop Wonderland ' ''. The Washington Post. Jump up ^ Asimov, Isaac. It 's Been a Good Life. Amherst, New York : Prometheus Books, 2002 : 118. ISBN 1 - 57392 - 968 - 9. Jump up ^ Asimov, Isaac. Asimov 's Mysteries. Garden City, New York : Doubleday, 1968 : 54. ISBN 0 - 385 - 09063 - 3. Jump up ^ `` PEP 0008 -- Style Guide for Python Code : A Foolish Consistency is the Hobgoblin of Little Minds ''. Python.org. Retrieved December 2, 2015. Bibliography Editions Emerson, Ralph Waldo Selected Essays ( Harmondsworth : Penguin American Library, 1982 ) ISBN 0140390138. Edited with an introduction by Larzer Ziff. pp. 175 - 203. Criticism Porte, Joel and Saundra Morris ( eds. ) The Cambridge Companion to Ralph Waldo Emerson ( Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1999 ) ISBN 052149611X. See especially pp. 13 - 30 and pp. 106 - 111. External links Wikisource has original text related to this article : Self - Reliance Text of Ralph Waldo Emerson 's essay, `` Self - Reliance '' `` Out of Panic, ' Self - Reliance ' '' by Harold Bloom, New York Times, October 12, 2008 Self - Reliance public domain audiobook at LibriVox Ralph Waldo Emerson Speeches `` The American Scholar '' ( 1837 ) `` Divinity School Address '' ( 1838 ) `` New England Reformers '' ( 1844 ) Poetry `` The Rhodora '' ( 1834 ) `` Concord Hymn '' ( 1836 ) `` Uriel '' ( 1846 ) `` Brahma '' ( 1856 ) `` Boston Hymn '' ( 1863 ) Essays `` Nature '' ( 1836 ) `` Self - Reliance '' ( 1841 ) `` Compensation '' ( 1841 ) `` The Over-Soul '' ( 1841 ) `` Circles '' ( 1841 ) `` The Poet '' ( 1844 ) `` Experience '' ( 1844 ) `` Politics '' ( 1844 ) Essay collections Essays : First Series ( 1841 ) Essays : Second Series ( 1844 ) Representative Men ( 1850 ) The Conduct of Life ( 1860 ) Related Rev. William Emerson ( father ) Edward Waldo Emerson ( son ) Mary Moody Emerson ( aunt ) Ezra Ripley ( stepfather ) The Atlantic `` Letter to Martin Van Buren '' Ralph Waldo Emerson House The Old Manse Transcendentalism Transcendental Club Concord Museum Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Self-Reliance&oldid=808244760 '' Categories : 1841 essays Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson Hidden categories : Articles with LibriVox links Talk Contents About Wikipedia Русский Edit links This page was last edited on 1 November 2017, at 19 : 01. About Wikipedia

Question: who said consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds
Answer: Ralph Waldo Emerson