How does (and should) a person define his/her place in society? (what does Emerson mean by "society" anyhow?)
One of Emerson's opinion about society is on page 24, "Is it so bad, then , to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood." The people who emerson talked about in this quote, Luther, Galileo, Newton, etc, are all important and wise people in the world today. we, as a society, listen to what they say because they were intelligent, but these people were misunderstood and were outcasts but as they grew up they came out to be on top. These men and women may have had different opinions and did not conform to other people's thoughts which made them an outcast but it is so important to have your own opinion and to think for yourself. That is what Emerson is saying in this passage. In a society, each individual person should be independent and unique. These men in Emerson's quote were misunderstood but they followed their thoughts and opinions and later on became understood.
I completely agree with you when you use the quotes on famous people who were known as non-conformists! It is okay to be an outcast because when you stick up for what you believe in, people will respect you more and you will have more self respect!
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-Z
I agree with you about the problem of people not being unique and standing out witin a society. Its okay to be different than other people as long as you think you are doing what you think is morally right. Then you will respect yourself and feel more confident about yourself!
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