Monday, November 27, 2006

Emerson Aphorisms

Please cite the aphorism that struck you the most in Self Reliance. 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.

8 Comments:

Blogger Sarah E. said...

"Society never advances...The civilized man had built a coach and lost the use of his feet". This quote is so true for todays society because we are inventing so many things. We make cars to make our lives 'easier' but we become dependant to it and forget that It is good to exercise (walking,running). We become lazy to the good foundations of our living pushing us ultimatly backwards. We have to be able to do the foundations of our living to be able to understand and move forward in the world today. But sadly we will always try to make life easier but with the sacrifice of loosing something else.

11:39 AM  
Blogger milenda nixon said...

"Just as a man who stands on his feet is stronger than a man who stands on his head".
I really like this quote because to me, this reflects reality. For me it's basically saying that a person who works hard without bragging and having a big head will be more respected than someone who brags about what they have. I strongly agree with Sam Tidwell, he made such a great point about how people now a days look at what is on the outside rather than what is on the inside. But I also look at it as people who judge others when they may be judged as well. Its either by their looks, by their imperfections or by what they possess. But I think it is more important to judge people by their character than by things that they possess. A great philosopher once said"A man's worth does not consist in the abundance of the things which he/she possesses".

4:35 PM  
Blogger Nikki B. said...

"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 or for worse as his portion" I think this aphorism relates to the world we live in today, where people focus on material things and would rather fit in with the crowd than enjoy their own identity, and that the more we learn the less we know. Envy is pointless and imitation to whats "in" is suicide to individuality. Accepting yourself for better or for worse is being honest to who you are and the way to enjoy life. Comparing yourself to everyone else just wastes time and has no benefit.

4:57 PM  
Blogger TylerMaybee said...

"The other terror that scares us from selftrust is our consistency; a reverence for our past act or word because the eyes of others have no other data for computing our orbit than our past acts, and we are loth to disappoint them."

This aphorism says that since we hate to disappoint others we do not trust ourselves to do or say what we want. And since others only can judge us from our past actions we are very careful that we do not step out of line and do or say the wrong thing. I follow this pattern most of the time when it comes to my actions, but when I want to say something I say it without thinking of repercussions. This most of the time turns out to be a curse which people think of me as a complete jerk. I am a very opinionated person and I voice my opinions too much sometimes.

5:49 PM  
Blogger jaimeL said...

"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"

This aphorism stood out the most to me because it defines a great person as one who not only listens to him/herself, or only listens to their peers, but can combine their ideas and opinions with others to create a solution even better than what they would have come up with. I found that this relates to life because throughout school and jobs there will usually be a person who thinks they know everything, however they will never know anything else because they are too busy being focused on only what they think.

7:04 PM  
Blogger DerrikO said...

"... and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried. A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best..."

I like this because i think it means that no one knows what you can do, including you, until you have gone out and proved you can do it. Also that when you put your heart into your work, you feel good about it. I think this quote can apply to anyone, if you try to can do things you didn't think you could, and after words you feel really good about it.

9:15 PM  
Blogger Eddie W. said...

"Men measure their esteem of each other by what each has, and not by what each is."

In our society today materialism is the biggest issue today. Its now what you need (such as knowledge or creativity to be bold and individualistic), its what you already have(materialistic or non materialistic).
Greed has taken over in our society and lifestyle. We as human beings always want more and can never get enough of it. But we are blinded by what we need to achieve that. KNOWLEDGE!! For me at least, I get a car based on what my grades are. Grades reflect my knowledge for the subject. As a result, if my grades are up to snuff, my parents will buy me a car.
Overall, what matters is now what you possess in your hand, but what you possess in your mind.

7:46 AM  
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7:12 PM  

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