KrumetoName ____________________Date __________

Self-Reliance

C2 · 423 words · ≈ 3 min

Ralph Waldo Emerson, photograph by Josiah Johnson Hawes, 1857

I read the other day some verses written by an eminent painter which were original and not conventional. The soul always hears an admonition in such lines, let the subject be what it may. The sentiment they instil is of more value than any thought they may contain. To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men,—that is genius. Speak your latent conviction, and it shall be the universal sense; for the inmost in due time becomes the outmost, and our first thought is rendered back to us by the trumpets of the Last Judgment. Familiar as the voice of the mind is to each, the highest merit we ascribe to Moses, Plato and Milton is that they set at naught books and traditions, and spoke not what men, but what they thought. A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. Great works of art have no more affecting lesson for us than this. They teach us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good-humored inflexibility then most when the whole cry of voices is on the other side. Else to-morrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another.
… These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs.
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. …

Words to know

conventional B2: following the usual ideas and styles — konventionell, herkömmlich — convencional — conventionnel — convenzionale — konwencjonalny — convencional — общепринятый, конвенционный, обычный — загальноприйнятий, конвенційний, звичайний
latent C1: present but hidden; not yet expressed — latent — latente — latent — latente — ukryty, uśpiony — latente — латентный, скрытый — saklı
genius B2: here: trusting and expressing your own inner thought — Genie — genio, genia — génie — geniusz — gênio, génio, genialidade — гений, гениальность — dâhi, deha — геній, геніальність
spontaneous C1: coming naturally, without planning — spontan — espontáneo — spontané, naturel, volontaire — spontaneo — spontaniczny — espontâneo — спонтанный, самопроизвольный, добровольный — spontan, kendiliğinden — спонтанний, мимовільний
solitude C2: being alone, often by choice — Einsamkeit, Alleinsein — soledad — solitude — solitudine — samotność — solidão, solitude — одиночество, уединение — yalnızlık — самотність
conformity C1: behaving as other people expect — Konformität — conformidad — conformité — conformidade — соответствие
aversion: a strong dislike — Abneigung, Aversion — aversión — aversion — avversione — niechęć, odraza — aversão — отвращение, неприятие, неприязнь — antipati — неприязнь, відраза, огида
nonconformist: someone who does not follow accepted ideas — Nonkonformist — inconformista — non-conformiste, anticonformiste — anticonformista — nonkonformista — não-conformista — нонконформист, нонконформистка
integrity: being whole and honest with yourself — Integrität — integridad — integrità — uczciwość — integridade — честность, целостность — чесність, цілісність

Text: Essays: First Series (1841), “Self-Reliance”, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1841), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-Reliance · Public domain (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/) · shortened · Picture: Josiah Johnson Hawes, Public domain (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ralph_Waldo_Emerson_by_Josiah_Johnson_Hawes_1857.jpg · Translations: English Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) · Worksheet: https://krumeto.com/read/self-reliance

KrumetoSelf-RelianceName ____________________

A. Choose the right answer

What is the central message of the excerpt? C2
1. a) Great artists should be copied as closely as possible.
2. b) Society protects individuals by giving them good rules.
3. c) Young people should follow the advice of their elders.
4. d) Trust your own thought instead of simply following society.
Why, according to Emerson, do we "recognize our own rejected thoughts" in works of genius? C2
1. a) Great writers often steal ideas from ordinary people.
2. b) We once had similar thoughts but dismissed them because they were ours.
3. c) Works of genius are always easy to understand.
4. d) We studied those works at school.
What warning does Emerson give at the end of paragraph 1? C2
1. a) If we ignore our own impressions, a stranger will express them and we will feel ashamed.
2. b) We should never change our opinions.
3. c) Strangers are dangerous and should not be trusted.
4. d) Good sense comes only with age.
What does Emerson mean by calling society "a joint-stock company"? C2
1. a) Everyone owns an equal share of the land.
2. b) People work together to make art.
3. c) Members give up their freedom in exchange for security.
4. d) Society is run by rich business owners.
What is Emerson's tone in paragraph 2? C1
1. a) Gently amused
2. b) Neutral and scientific
3. c) Sharply critical
4. d) Sad and nostalgic
In paragraph 3, "the integrity of your own mind" refers to… C2
1. a) its wholeness and honesty with itself
2. b) its intelligence as measured by tests
3. c) its ability to remember facts
4. d) its knowledge of religion
Which person would Emerson most admire? C2
1. a) A student who repeats his favourite teacher's opinions
2. b) A politician who changes his views to win more votes
3. c) A scientist who publishes an unpopular theory she has tested and believes
4. d) A writer who follows the fashion of the day

B. Answer in full sentences

Emerson says conformity is the virtue society values most. Is that still true today, for example on social media? Give examples.
Describe a time when you trusted your own judgement against the opinion of a group. What happened?

KrumetoSelf-RelianceAnswer key

Answer key

d) Trust your own thought instead of simply following society. — Paragraph 1: "To believe your own thought… that is genius"; paragraph 3: "Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist."
b) We once had similar thoughts but dismissed them because they were ours. — Paragraph 1: a man "dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his" — later he meets it again in someone else's great work.
a) If we ignore our own impressions, a stranger will express them and we will feel ashamed. — Paragraph 1: "a stranger will say… precisely what we have thought… and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another."
c) Members give up their freedom in exchange for security. — Paragraph 2: members agree, "for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater."
c) Sharply critical — Paragraph 2: society is "in conspiracy against" its members; it "loves not realities and creators, but names and customs."
a) its wholeness and honesty with itself — Paragraph 3: nothing is "sacred but the integrity of your own mind" — being undivided and true to yourself, not obeying outside names.
c) A scientist who publishes an unpopular theory she has tested and believes — Paragraphs 1 and 3: abide by your impression "then most when the whole cry of voices is on the other side".