"Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind."
-Emerson
Your mind is the most important tool you have, therefore you must use it. This quote is saying how integrity and honor that one has in himself are the most sacred things humans have. Everyone talks about the importance of "believing in yourself" and "trusting your judgment," but this quote sums up the meaning behind sayings such as these. One's own faith in himself is what leads him on in life; without it one could not live up to his full potential. Integrity of mind is important because often we have to make decisions in our life that come down to having faith in taking that next step. When it all comes down to it, trust in ourselves and our choices guide us through life. With every chance we take, with every step in an attempt to succeed, we are trusting out decisions therefore we have integrity. However it is a sort of cycle, because one of our life goals is to find this integrity within us. It comes with experience, trust, and the drive to move forward and succeed in life. We need these things to find this "integrity of mind."
I like this quote a lot because the idea also relates to Emerson's Friendship essay. He tells us that we must have confidence in ourselves to be a good friend to someone else. A good friend must have the ability to be comfortable alone for a bit without the constant company of someone else. In this way, learning to be self-assured is part of not only becoming a good friend but of growing up in general. I know a lot of people who constantly have to be with someone else in order to be happy. They cannot be alone. They need a buddy to study, a buddy to walk with them, even a buddy to go to the restroom. It is very important to be able to be comfortable with yourself and fine with being alone occasionally.
2 comments:
BLUFFKIN!!!!!!!!!
In all seriousness... I really do like your idea that life of integrity etc is a cycle... Because I'd never thought of it like that but I agree with you. I love FRIENDSHIP so I like how you tied the two together because I would have done the same thing... they really coincide with each other (your quote and the essay). Trust in yourself is above all important and your analyzation stated your point effectively and clearly. So thank you for enlightening me.
Your dearest Zadora
I like the concept of it more than the actual thing.
this a really good idea. I like how you related to Emerson's ideas on friendship. That is so true that if you dont have trust and faith in yourself, you can't really have trust and faith in someone else in the case of a friendship. It's just like when people are always like you have to have confidence in yourself and not rely on someone else to give it to you. Because if you need someone else to make you have trust in yourself...it will kinda suck if that person decides to not be confident in you anymore. But if we are confident in ourselves then we are always our number 1 fan. if that makes any sense. It makes sense in my mind, but I'm not sure how well i am wording it. oh well. bottom line i liked it.
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