Self-Reliance: A Reader's Guide
Emerson's essay on nonconformity — trust yourself, resist consistency as hobgoblin.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self-Reliance (1841) — Transcendentalist manifesto: inner intuition over conformity, institutions, and imitation.
Famous lines
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds"; society everywhere in conspiracy against selfhood of each member.
Context
American Romantic individualism — influences Thoreau, business culture, self-help.
How to read
Argue with it — brilliance and blind spots on community and privilege.
Essay that shaped American idea of authenticity.