Emerson - Gifts

Emerson - Gifts

Emerson, in his piece titled Gifts, reveals a lot about the true essence of gifts and gift-giving along with ihs philosophy on the issue.

According to Emerson, gifts should be pieces of the gift-givers. Gifts should not be extravegant and expensive materialistic items becasue that only draws attention to the gift-giver and not teh recipient. Emerson says that the best gifts are sometimes the homemade gifts; the cards, the photo books, etc. These items represent the connection between the gift-giver and the gift-recipient and that is the point of gift giving.

Emerson also mentions the importance of the right way to recieve gifts. He says that we need to pass on the good that is given to us to others who also need it. This should be the goal of all gift recipients; to be able to use their gift to better someone or something else.

Emerson's philosphy can be percieved as a critique on society today and as a social commentary. I believe Emerson is critiquing the materialism, greed, and selfishness of today's world. It is amazing to see the world when ones steps back and sees how much we value the biggest, most expensive, and the flashiest gifts. This is exactly what Emerson is critiquing when he says that we need to be thinking about the thought behind the gift and and how we need to be thinking of the most personal, true gifts instead of the flashiest. I personally don't believe everything Emerson said through his literary works, but he does have a point here that needs to be addressed.

It is interesting to think how my life would be different if I became more like Emerson with regard to gifts. As of now, most of the time, I go buy my gifts from the stores and most of the time they are gift cards. If I was more like Emerson, I would not go to the stores at all but take the time to make gifts on my own that symbolized my relationships with the people I wanted to give gifts to. Emerson wants these gifts to be custom made for the recipiant. This is one of the points where I don't agree with Emerson. I believe some of the "flashier" more expensive gifts can be just as meaningful as the homemade ones. For example, last Christmas, I got my mom a gold necklace. I did this because she does so much for me and my future and she does that my investing her own money. I wanted to invest my own money in return to make her happy. She knew that the gift was not cheap and she knew I did not have a lot of money and that made the fact that I got her the gift special. This is just one of the many examples where the "flashier" gifts mean a lot.

In conclusion, Emerson brings up an interesting social commentary through a great piece of literature. I wished more poeple would reliaze that the thought of the gifts and the memories behind them are more important the gift itself.

Emerson - Self Reliance

Emerson - Self Reliance

"What I must do, is all that concerns me, not what the people think"

Paraphrase: I have to do what is best for me regardless of what other people think

This quote has extreme importance and validity to many different aspects of real life. Again, it is saying that one needs to do what is best for oneself. It is important to clarify that this excerpt is not saying to ignore everyone else, but is emphasizing the importance of not throwing away one's accomplishments for people/things that are not worth them. This quote has really been a part of my personal life to this point. It has served as the moral to many of life's lessons for me. For example, I had to take the SAT on the day after Halloween. There was a party at my friend's house that I could have gone to but I didn't because I needed to do well on the SAT for college and for my future. We all need to look at the bigger scope of things when facing decisions like this and Emerson and I believe if we do we will make the right decision.

Thsi quote goes along with Emerson's beliefs of self-reliance, individualism, and a questioning-mind. Emerson stresses throughout his essays to look at what is best for you and not to fall victim to what he calls the "conspiracy of society." He claims that society attempts to control individual thought and tries to conform everyone to a single standard. Emerson says we need to fight this. This is evident from the quote, "Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of everyone of its memebers." He is specifically saying here that everyone who is part of society contributes to this "conspiracy" that is trying to conform and limit the "integrity of the mind."

Emerson came after the period of the Enlightenment but was undoubtedly influenced by the writings and values of that era. People like Rousseau and Voltaire also advocated for individualism. Voltaire concentrated his energy on the individualism of the mind to choose one's own beliefs and religion as he was a steadfast supporter of religious tolerance. Rousseau focused his efforts of individualism to promote true democracy and the will of the majority as he said that people had the ability to govern themselves without a monarch.

In conclusion, Emerson's beliefs of individualism and free thought are clear throughout his writings and are shared with many other great philosophers. We are now able to think freely and openly and it is mostly because of people liek Rousseau , Voltaire, Emerson, Jefferson, and many more heroic and revolutionary people. It is important not to take for granted these freedoms and we need to use them to the fullest extent possible. Like Emerson said, we should all think for ourselves and decide what is right and what is wrong in our own minds.