Emerson Said It

"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself"
With this quote I think Emerson is trying yo say you can never be happy with life if you're not happy with yourself. You should not have to look for others' approval in order to feel good. This came up in today's Socratic Seminar because we were talking about Emerson's main points and what we believed truly spoke out to us such as this quote. This quote should inspire people to accept themselves the way they are.

"What I must do is all that concerns me, not what people think"
Emerson is trying to tell us that we should not worry about what others will think of our actions and that we should do whatever we love without being judged. This quote can be very meaningful to some people because there are a lot of people out there who do stuff they don't like simply because everyone else is doing it. I think a lot of us would agree that we should not be controlled by society.

"We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which represents us"
In my opinion, I believe this means that when we are around others it is not who we truly are and are actually afraid to act like ourselves because we will be judged. If this is what Emerson is trying to say, then I agree with him because everyone acts different around people depending on who they're with. If they're with their family they act like themselves but when they're around their friends they may seem like a totally different person. We don't fully show who we really are.

"Man is timid and apologetic; he is no longer upright"
Emerson is trying to say that we as humans no longer step up for what we believe is right. We turn to others to see what is right and wrong without having our own opinions. I agree with Emerson because nowadays everyone seems to look for approval from others and not from within. There is too much extrinsic motivation going on in society.

"Every heart vibrates to that iron string"
This quote can be interpreted in many different ways and I think it has something to do about everyone being different and special in their own ways. Each one of us has the potential to be someone different in this world yet we choose to be like everybody else. We need to be our true selves and show who we truly are. When you're like everyone else you don't stand out and there's nothing special about you, so why choose to be like everyone else? Being yourself can be good and bad depending on whether you care about what others will think. Emerson wants us to be ourselves without worrying.