People commonly revered by society were those with complete trust in themselves
Ordinarily, everybody in society reminds us of someone else. A person of true character reminds us of nothing else. Those of greatness belong to no time or place. Every true person in history tends to represent an entire cause, country, or age, and other people follow in their steps. Ceaser is born, and we have the Roman Empire. Jesus is born, and millions of people follow his teachings. An institution is the lengthened shadow of one person. All of history revolves around a few bold and earnest individuals.
Given that people commonly revered by society were just individuals with complete self-reliance, people should take heart that their intuitions and self-trust are equal to anyone else’s. An ordinary person might think that there is nothing in them that , as Emerson says, “corresponds to the force which built a tower or sculptured a marble god,” or might feel that “a palace, a statue, or a costly book have an alien or forbidding air.” But a more self-reliant attitude would help the individual to understand that their own perceptions are more important than the physical art or architecture they perceive: these objects are “suitors for [their] notice, petitioners to [their] faculties” and not anything to feel overawed by.
References
- Emerson, W,. Ralph. (1844). Self-Reliance and Other Essays Chapter 2 Self-Reliance (p. 43). Dover Publications.
Metadata
Type:🔴 Tags: Philosophy / Psychology / Social Psychology / Sociology Status:☀️