Ralph Waldo Emerson, the author of Self Reliance, was one of the leading transcendentalists of the American movement and a truly "American" writer. However, he was not as dedicated as Henry David Thoreau, who spent two years living in the woods and detailed his life and thoughts there in Walden. Emerson was a different breed, writing behind a desk. His respected position as an intellectual (having attended Harvard College and Divinity School) allowed him to maintain respect for his writings. But what does he really mean? While he remains true to the idea of ​​believing in yourself and not copying others, he seems to contradict himself in several places. His contradictions ultimately seem to indicate a balance between isolation and conformity, while his language reveals a larger discovery about what he thinks his audience believes and how he tries to influence their views. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay a troubling contradiction. Emerson writes: “To believe your own thinking, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, is genius. Express your latent conviction, and it will be the universal meaning; with time, it becomes the most extreme” (19). Believing in your “private heart” and “expressing your latent conviction” are two very different things. The problem with these words is how are men supposed to believe that what is true for them is true for everyone if everyone believes something different is true for themselves? It seems that a world of men who adopted this idea would not cooperate and there would be massive chaos of individuals trying to impose their ideas on others. However, Emerson is not an idealist. His lifestyle compared to that of the aforementioned transcendentalists clearly demonstrates this. It is much more practical. That being said, Emerson is astute in his mission to achieve a practical goal. He tries to push his readers to think beyond their own comfort, to consider the extreme. This allows its audience to embrace the ideas of self-reliance to an extent that is not the extreme presented in these main lines. The effect can be likened to putting a big foot in a shoe that is too big to stretch it. Emerson forces the foot of extreme autonomy into the reader's shoe as early as possible, so that by the time we're done walking in it, the shoe will at least be comfortable. Emerson later expresses what his actual idea of ​​a "good fit" is. Emerson presents his practical view of autonomy as a balance between external and internal relationships, placing more weight on the individual: What I must do is whatever concerns me, not what people think. This rule, equally difficult in real life and in intellectual life, can be used to distinguish between grandeur and pettiness. This is all the more difficult, because you will always find those who think they know what your duty is better than you know. It is easy in the world to live according to the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live according to ours; but the great man is he who, in the midst of the crowd, maintains with perfect gentleness the independence of solitude. (23) Clearly, Emerson believes that the weight of an individual's sense of self is the ultimate factor in all things. He uses strong language ("What I must do") to emphasize the belief the individual should have and sharper language ("the perfect gentleness, the independence of solitude") to try to capture the essence autonomy. Men want and like sweet things; Emerson's language creates affinity,.