Self-Reliance
(1841)		By Ralph Waldo Emerson
(1803-1882)

Editor's Notes: This annotated and interactively linked version of "Self-Reliance" is intended for the casual reader of the classics, or for curious younger readers interested in developing their minds, their vocabularies, and their literary and historical knowledge; I do not pretend to regard this work as profound scholarship. Thus, given the intentions of this project, and risking charges of vanity, I have highlighted in red passages I find particularly striking.

Potentially difficult vocabulary has been linked to the Hypertext Webster Gateway; clicking on a linked word will take you to its definition. Most proper names have been linked to the Biography.com database. Clicking on a linked name will take you to the relevant biography, and using your browser's "back" button will return you to "Self-Reliance." Where possible, I have linked referenced literature to the most accurate and aesthetically pleasing online versions I could find. (All links in this text are colored green. If this causes any problems, please let me know at the e-mail address below.)

For textual verification and for marginalia marked with an asterisk (*), I am indebted to Ferguson and Carr's The Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Volume II: Essays: First Series [Cambridge: Belknap, 1979], and Joseph Slater's notes contained therein. For marginalia marked with a double asterisk (**), I am grateful to The American Tradition in Literature [New York: Norton, 1962], edited by Bradley, Beatty, and Long.

Please send suggestions, comments, and error reports to kerjsmit@ra.msstate.edu.

~ CONTENTS ~

  1. Frontmatter & Paragraphs 1-10

  2. Paragraphs 11-20

  3. Paragraphs 21-30

  4. Paragraphs 31-40

  5. Paragraphs 41-50 (end)

This HTML version of Emerson's "Self-Reliance" was created, textually verified, edited, and annotated (excluding annotations marked with asterisks) by Kerry J. Smith, copyright ©1998, 1997, 1996. Most recent modification: Wednesday, 22-Jul-1998 10:42:42 CDT.

Please send comments to kerjsmit@ra.msstate.edu.

URL: http://ra.msstate.edu/~kerjsmit/self_rel.htm

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