Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.
Ralph Waldo Emerson Essays: First Series, Self-Reliance (1841)
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When and why it was written
- When
- From Self-Reliance, 1841.
- Why
- Emerson is urging readers to rely on their own judgment rather than borrowed opinion.
What it means
Emerson pictures self-trust as a string every heart responds to. It is not arrogance; it is listening to yourself.
Writing is one of the clearest ways of hearing that string.
Our reading of the passage cited above, not a quotation from a commentary.
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Essays: First Series, 1841
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