What does trust thyself every heart vibrates to that iron string?

Realizing that your heart vibrates to an iron string allows for you to stand strong, trust yourself, and not let everyone else around you deter you from your own intuition.

Which view of nature does Emerson take?

Emerson uses spirituality as a major theme in the essay. Emerson believed in re-imagining the divine as something large and visible, which he referred to as nature; such an idea is known as transcendentalism, in which one perceives a new God and a new body, and becomes one with his or her surroundings.

What is the relationship between Transcendentalism and self-reliance?

The transcendentalists believed that the US needed reformation in its religion, arts, higher education, and culture. Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” is one of the most important statements of transcendentalist beliefs and how they apply to everyday life.

What does to be great is to be misunderstood mean?

To be great is to be misunderstood.” Emerson has used this phrase in the context that if people misunderstand a person due to his different ideas from the masses, then the person is, in fact, a great thinker.

What are some aphorisms in self reliance?

Here are a few aphorisms (or epigrams) from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” that we are learning in class this week:

• Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.
• A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
• To be great is to be misunderstood.
• Trust thyself; every heart vibrates to that iron string.

What does Emerson mean by transparent eyeball?

The transparent eyeball is a philosophical metaphor originated by Ralph Waldo Emerson. The transparent eyeball is a representation of an eye that is absorbent rather than reflective, and therefore takes in all that nature has to offer.

What are bards and sages?

Bards and Sages is an American publisher of speculative fiction and role-playing games. The company was founded in 2002 by horror writer and game designer Julie Ann Dawson. The company produces both print and electronic media.

What is that gleam of light which flashes across the mind?

“A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his.