who can write it in other words?? literature...?

Question

i will much appreciate if any of you will be able to write it in other words or discribe what is he talking about...

from self-reliance
by ralph waldo emerson

there is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that thought the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but throught his toil bestowed on that plon of ground which is given him to to till. 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 has tried. Not for nothing one face, one character, one fact makes much impression on him, and another none.

Answer 1

Hi hkolya,

I congratulate you on your great choice for reading! The emphasis in this paragraph and the paragraph before it (if you read the whole essay) is upon discovering your original self and sticking to your own natural thoughts.

When you observe an artistic creation-- whether it be a poem, an essay or any other "new" thought, you, in your heart of hearts, first have to agree with it to be impressed by it. This implies that you knew this thought beforehand but were afraid to express it.

It is not that you are not capable of new thoughts. Emerson says that a genius lies within everyone but, to bring out that genius, one first has to stand up to the contemporary geniuses. Most of us are afraid to listen to the genius within ourselves. We just listen to what the leaders and intellectuals tell us and believe without questioning.

When a poet says- "Love is a sweet pain." It is *his* viewpoint but, you, even if your heart tells you otherwise, get "boxed" and "caged" into the poet's lyrics. The thoughts of love being "a bitter ecstasy" or "a sour smile" or anything else don't cross your mind. This makes you somewhat incapable of coming up with a love-poems and expressions of your own.

I wrote the above dialogue to introduce you to the theme of the paragraph quoted by you. Actually, the above is an explanation of the preceding paragraph. Now, let's come to the text in question-

In everyone's student life, there comes a time when he realizes that he cannot be like anyone else; that he (or she) is different from others and in that sense, is completely unique.

"Envy is ignorance" means that trying to be someone is ignorance. You can only envy someone's good qualities if you are devoid of the knowledge that you cannot be him and he cannot be you.

"Imitation is suicide" means that when you imitate or copy someone, it is like killing your own self. When you try to be someone else; you try to write like someone even though you know that you can express it better in painting, you are killing the painter within you. It is a suicide to imitate someone.

You should learn to live with your good and bad qualities. You have to understand that you are what you are. You cannot be someone else and then, work towards "self" improvement. To improve yourself, you first need to know yourself. The qualities you have are like a plot of land given to you. You have to work hard keeping in mind the degree of fertility of your plot of land i.e. your personality.

To grow high-quality cobs of corn (talent), you first have to know your land (basic personal traits).

No one else can decide what you can do with yourself. It is for you to take the first step and try and develop what *you* think is your USP. You are new and unique and only you should be your own judge. Judge what you can do-- try it-- even if you fail, you'll be stepping forward in the right direction.

The line "Not for nothing, one character, one fact, makes much impression on him, and another none." sort of sums up the theme. It means that you are unique and a have certain fire that no one else has because, by observation you can see that one character or art seems to appeal to you a lot and another one doesn't.

You listen to a song and look at a picture. Both classics; but the song touches your soul while the picture doesn't have that effect. Some other person may enjoy the picture and may not like the song that much. It just means that you have a taste in music and you should go with your inclination to find your true self. Forcing paintings or anything on yourself is a suicide for your musical self.

I hope this answer helped. If this answer worked, you won't be overly impressed with me but must be working towards reading the essay by yourself and finding the meaning as it sounds true to yourself and not me or anyone else.

Note: You can find the whole essay at emersoncentral.com. Here is the link- http://www.emersoncentral.com/selfreliance.htm

Good luck!

Answer 2

Ralph Waldo Emerson is talking about people (he says "man," but he really means "everybody") who finally realize that they have to be "self-reliant." A person should finally realize that if he envys somebody else, that is being ignorant, or if he imitates someone else, that is like suicide. What is better is to finally accept oneself, for better or worse, and be content with that.

Even though the universe might be filled with good, nothing will come to a person "just because," but he has to work hard for it and finally get it for himself. A person does not know what he is capable of until he goes out and tries to do things on his own.

Isn't that a terrific lesson for everybody? I think it can help a person look at themselves and encourage them to try their best. Good luck!

Answer 3

I would put it this way from Admiral "Bull" Halsey. "There are no great men, just great circumstances to be met by ordinary men."