Self-Reliance

By Ralph Waldo Emerson

Book Overview

It is the once-in-a-generation events that reshape our world and our thinking, and it is in such times that we turn to timeless works that offer reassurance and provide inspiration. As Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in "Self-Reliance," which resonates just as strongly now, "The voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tacks. See the line from a sufficient distance, and it straightens itself to the average tendency. Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing." When Emerson published his most famous essay in 1841, it was in the aftermath of the calamitous financial collapse of 1837. His positive vision for the power of individualism and personal responsibility was issued in a climate filled with panic and uncertainty, and at a time, much like today, when the values of society and humanity were in the process of being reformed.

Emerson's text is widely available to read online, but this new, graphically reimagined edition, produced with Design Observer, elevates his wisdom through the printed word and includes twelve contemporary essays by Jessica Helfand. To suggest, as Emerson's text does, that the richest lives are lived with an independent mind, spirit, and creativity surely deserves to be celebrated.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0500024472
• ISBN13: 9780500024478
• Release Date: May 2021
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Nice book

This is a short read with a lot of thoughtful writing came quickly and was a great value

Good book!

I bought this as a gift for my older brother. He's 26 and he liked it very much. The book was in very good condition.

Bought as a gift

Bought as a gift for someone. Product was just as described and arrived quickly.