In “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson calls on every person in society to be completely true to themselves. He states that it is very rewarding for the individual and society when people believe in their own thoughts and not those of others. Emerson believes that conformity will ultimately lead to an individual's demise, because by living for others, people are not being true to themselves. Therefore, to have a well-formed society, citizens must focus on themselves and have confidence in their own ideas before they start looking towards other individuals; Furthermore, Emerson calls on individuals not only in "Self-Reliance" but also in many essays to act independently of conformity and live for themselves. Ralph Waldo Emerson's main theme in "Self-Reliance" emphasizes the ideas of the individual and not the ideas of the individual. ideas of others. Emerson firmly believes that “imitation is suicide.” For Emerson, if a person has an opinion, he should express it immediately and without doubt. As Emerson said: “The history and state of the world at any given time depend directly on the intellectual classification which then exists in the minds of men. Beware when God unleashes a great thinker on this planet. So everything is in danger. The very hopes of man, the thoughts of his heart, the religion of nations, the manners and morals of humanity are all at the mercy of a new generalization. » (Dewey 408). He calls people to trust themselves and stop living according to the universal ideas of the world. He places great importance on the fact that a person should always be true to himself. He believes that if people start living according to each other's wishes, they will... middle of paper ....../p41728_index.html>Yannella, Donald. “Chapter 3: Self-Evolving Circle.” Ralph Waldo Emerson. Donald Yannelle. Boston: Twayne, 1982. Twayne's United States Authors Series 414. Gale Library Resources. Internet. April 19, 2010. Works consulted by Tocqueville, Alexis. Democracy in America. New York: Harper Perennial, 1988. 537. American Political Science Assoc. Internet. April 19, 2010. Emerson, Ralph W. “The American Scholar.” Flight. 7. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Julia Reidhead. 7th ed. Np: WW Norton & Company, Inc., 2008. 7 vol. 520-32. Print."Preview: "Self-Reliance." » Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events That Influenced Them. Joyce Moss and George Wilson. Vol. 2: Civil Wars in Frontier Societies (1800s- 1880). Detroit: Gale, 1997. Gale Documentary Resources.. 2010