Self-Reliance: The Wisdom of Ralph Waldo Emerson as Inspiration for Daily Living [Paperback]

Richard Whelan (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 5, 1991

A finely honed abridgement of Emerson's principal essays with an introduction that clarifies the essence of Emerson's ideas and establishes their relevance to our own troubled era. This is the first truly accessible edition of Emerson's work, revealing him to be one of America's wisest teachers.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This abridgement of 16 of Emerson's essays claims to present the "essence of Emerson." By extracting what he considers to be Emerson's most spiritually satisfying passages, Whelan attempts to make him more accessible to those who may be inspired by his optimistic romanticism but balk at the sustained effort needed to read the full essays. The book aims to be popular, but that does not make the cavalier editing more palatable. Long passages are silently deleted from the essays; Emerson's substantial paragraphs are often divided into several bite-sized ones; and blocks of text are sometimes rearranged. Libraries that wish to strengthen their Emerson collection would be better off purchasing an additional copy of The Library of America volume of Emerson's essays and lectures, thereby giving their patrons the chance to decide for themselves which of Emerson's words offer the greatest sustenance.
- Steve Gowler, Wofford Coll. Lib., Spartanburg, S.C.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Emerson is the sweetest singer of our highest moments. For anyone in search of a tonic draft of his wisdom, this book, collecting some of his most radiant moods, is a rapture and an inspiration."
--Pico Iyer

"These selections from Emerson's essays, equally severe and consoling, are remarkably current in their wisdom. They are chosen with great care by Richard Whelan, and offer a special unextinguishable light."
-- Roger Rosenblatt

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1st edition (November 5, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 051758512X
• ISBN-13: 978-0517585122
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

There are few people as quoted and quotable as Ralph Waldo Emerson, founder of the transcendental movement and author of classic essays as Self-Reliance, Nature, and The American Scholar. Emerson began his career as a Unitarian minister and later put those oratory skills to move us toward a better society. More remains written on him than by him.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Totally inspiring..., November 21, 2001

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Self-Reliance: The Wisdom of Ralph Waldo Emerson as Inspiration for Daily Living (Paperback)

I cannot pick up this book without feeling encouraged and inspired. The editor has gone through and picked out some of the best passages from Emerson's works, thus saving us the trouble of wading through hundreds of pages of prose for the really good stuff. Everyone needs a copy of this book.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Truly inspirational..., January 29, 2001

By 

Angela Renzetti "jadeblosom" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Self-Reliance: The Wisdom of Ralph Waldo Emerson as Inspiration for Daily Living (Paperback)

This is the first book by Emerson that I've read, but hope to read more of his essays later. The book really is inspirational. Emerson is an excellent writer and his words flow together like nothing I've ever read. The essays in this book are pure poetry.... really beautiful. Even if you don't believe in the Transcendalist/Idealist view, you can still read this book and feel like you've gotten something out of it. I would recommend this for anyone who has a liking for beautiful writing.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Little Warning about Having Just Excerpts, May 10, 2009

By 

dylanlives - See all my reviews

This review is from: Self-Reliance: The Wisdom of Ralph Waldo Emerson as Inspiration for Daily Living (Paperback)

I note one of the descriptions provided by Amazon reviews mentions something like "[By providing just the most inspiring passages from each essay, the author makes Emerson more accessible and inspiring to the reader." Emerson is often quoted as he did come with some beautiful language. But, to really judge Emerson, I think it is crucial to read, for example, the entire essay "Self-Reliance" and "Love". These essays are short, and quite passionately written. Amazingly, Emerson's "Transcendentalism" is exactly the same as "The Secret" and the Law of Attraction, and also Carl Jung's concepts of Universal Spirit / Collective Consciousness. The problem is that Emerson's views expressed in essays such as "Self Reliance" and "Love" are incredibly inconsistent, and they are greatly inconsistent, over and over again, when compared to other famous speeches he gave such as "The Nature of Man", I believe. Emerson is famous for having written, in "Self Reliance", "Inconsistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.", in other words, don't be afraid to be inconsistent as that is what "Great Men", as he calls them, must do. Many people glorify this aspect of Emerson as meaning he provides us with paradoxes. For you to judge his value as a spiritual or life guidepost, you just cannot rely only on excerpts; which, probably have been selected because they are beautifully written but, by only selecting certain excerpts, this author can avoid revealing Emerson's fatal inconsistencies. Emerson's inconsistent views seem to come from insecure, egotist who simply has a need to always be provocative (scholarly reviewers all point to the fact that Emerson was, indeed, greatly insecure due to his failures as both a Harvard professor and a Unitarian minister, as well as in his very unhappy marriage. These scholars say that he had no choice but to retreat into the wilds because he had no way to make a living! Emerson's views are also just wrong. For example, just like all these New Thought movements, he dismisses rational thought as worthless and destructive to your decisions and actions. He falsely romanticizes the, according to Emerson, impulsive, non-rational thinking patters of "laborers"; "youths" "[who act quickly and taking no need of any other or any societal norm"]; and of primitive and aboriginal peoples, who somehow (just as Jung believed) were all so in touch with the Universal Spirit that they were wise enough to act quickly just on pure instinct. Each person is divine. Each person can tap into the Universal Mind, and when you do, any thought, emotion, or feeling because it comes both from God, who lives inside each of us and from the divine Universal Spirit. This is exactly what "The Secret" / Law of Attraction teach. In my opinion, it is a very dangerous fact that so many intelligent, college graduates, guided by Oprah, are so fully committed to such anti-intellectual, anti-rational thought movements. While these thinking views all have some good ideas similar to "The Power of Positive Thinking"; they, also, absurdly all claim to be "scientifically proven" based on the mysterious, strange movements made by electrons in quantum mechanics physics. What non of them tell you is that the mathematical equations describing the behavior of electrons in quantum mechanics, ONLY applies to extremely tiny particles such as a single electron or, possibly, an atom. They have no effect on the matter that we live with such as toaster ovens, trees, human beings, mountains, etc. You can not prove that you can "attract" or "manifest" a Rolls Royce, which is the example they all use, by using the laws of quantum mechanics physics. This disturbs me greatly because, again, it is so ant-intellectual. The fact that so many educated people fall for this "scientific" nonsense just because they watch one or two sell-out charlatan physicists claims that the Law of Attraction has been "scientifically proven", makes me realize why, as one example, we seem to have no hope getting people to accept the true dangers facing human civilization, over the next 100 years or so, by global warming. No one who does not believe in global warming will change their behaviors if they refuse to do any simple basic research and make an informed independent judgement.
Read the whole of a few of Emerson's essay's and be prepared to enjoy his language but to need to study them carefully and flip the pages back and forth as you see his inconsistencies. Then, you can, I think, make a fair judgement on his true worth you you and to society as a spiritual or philosophy of life guidepost! Whether you come out with me or come to the opposite conclusion, you will enjoy reading the often beautiful language used by Emerson. Have fun with it! I would enjoy reading any and all Replies, of any opinion, to any or all portions of this lengthy comment. Thanks!