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Ralph Waldo Emerson
The audience of the essay. The individual is a single member of the eternal collective of human beings, united with all other people through a universal mind and spirit. Emerson imparts responsibility onto the individual to bring forth the essay’s call to action—that is, to read and write history deeply, broadly, and personally for a more holistic and spiritually-grounded understanding of the self and of humanity.
The Individual Quotes in History
The History quotes below are all either spoken by The Individual or refer to The Individual. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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History Quotes
There is one mind common to all individual men. Every man is an inlet to the same and to all of the same … what at any time has befallen any man, he can understand.
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Emerson’s opening line introduces the central theme of unity that underscores the rest of the essay. He puts forth the idea that there is “one mind” shared by all individuals—a collective consciousness that unites humanity in common thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Emerson’s emphasis on the individual was shared by many prominent transcendentalist thinkers, who generally believed that God was omnipresent in all things and that each person was therefore inherently divine, worthy, and meaningful. Emerson goes on to make the claim that every man has the capability to access this universal, all-encompassing mind. He believes that all events that have Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores
Universal history, the poets, the romancers, do not in their stateliest pictures—in the sacerdotal, the imperial palaces, in the triumphs of will or of genius—anywhere lose our ear, anywhere make us feel that we intrude, that this is for better men; but rather it is true, that in their grandest strokes we feel most at home.
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Emerson is discussing the universal nature of human beings. He argues for the transcendentalist notion that a singular soul unites all things, expanding further on his previous idea that all individuals share a spark of divinity. With this notion in mind, Emerson encourages individual to view themselves as participants in the “universal history” that unites all people. He acknowledges the temptation to view well-known historical figures as superior to the ordinary everyday person, referencing the lofty achievements of “poets” and “romancers” who created “the sacerdotal, the imperial palaces … the triumphs of will or genius.” Alternatively, Emerson points out that Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates.
We are always coming up with the emphatic facts of history in our private experience, and verifying them here. All history becomes subjective; in other words, there is properly no history; only biography.
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Emerson continues to explore the role of the individual in both writing and reading history. He references another common philosophical principle of American Transcendentalism—that there is little that can be objectively known about reality, and that each person must therefore discover their own subjective truths about the world. The notion of historical “fact” is one that Emerson critiques throughout the essay, believing instead in personal intuition over empirical data. Emerson makes the claim that the standard definition of history does not really exist. Whereas most studies of the past focus on objective figures such as names, dates, and places, Emerson Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus
If any one will but take pains to observe the variety of actions to which he is equally inclined in certain moods of mind, and those to which he is averse, he will see how deep is the chain of affinity.
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Emerson continues his ongoing discussion of the individual’s relationship to history, as well as humanity’s relationship to nature. He expands further on his notion of the universal mind that unites people intellectually, emotionally, and experientially, as well as that of the universal nature that unites people spiritually. Emerson calls upon the individual to “take pains” to notice the inner truths and principles that dictate their behavioral tendencies. Emerson believes that everyone and everything shares a singular soul, and that human beings share a common nature that unites them in their moral fabric, vices, and virtues. He argues that living things Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus volup
In like manner, all public facts are to be individualized, all private facts are to be generalized. Then at once History becomes fluid and true, and Biography deep and sublime.
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Emerson adds additional depth and complexity to his argument that history and biography are inextricably linked. This passage suggests that history is not only biographical, but that an individual’s personal life has inherent historical significance. Individuals should not only apply historical to themselves, but also make an effort to contextualize the private events of their lives within the broader scope of human history. Emerson draws on a point he makes early on in the essay, arguing that an individual’s meaning is derived from their connection to the universal nature of all living things. This idea hearkens back to transcendentalist thought, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Co
What is the foundation of that interest all men feel in Greek history, letters, art, and poetry, in all its periods, from the Heroic or Homeric age down to the domestic life of the Athenians and Spartans, four or five centuries later? What but this, that every man passes personally through a Grecian period.
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Emerson adds specificity to his prior claim that history is inherently biographical. He suggests that the individual’s private experiences are not merely abstractly or indirectly related to the past—rather, every person passes through parallel experiences that directly reflect the underlying principles of specific historical time periods. He argues that man’s interest in certain well-known periods in history (Greek antiquity, for example) reflects a gravitation toward the common experiences of human beings. This example is a testament to the idea of the universal human mind of human beings that Emerson references earlier on in the essay, which he believes unites people Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impe
When the voice of a prophet out of the deeps of antiquity merely echoes to him a sentiment of his infancy, a prayer of his youth, he then pierces to the truth through all the confusion of tradition and the caricature of institutions.
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This passage is one of Emerson’s most explicit critiques of modern society that appears in the essay. Transcendentalist thinkers were generally disenchanted with many elements of Western culture that they believed were corrupted by institutions such as organized religion. The presence of genuine divinity in man, argues Emerson, is meaningful in that it bridges the gap between the physical and metaphysical realms. In the same section, he invokes the recurring images of the Gothic cathedral, emphasizing that the structure embodies the unification of the earthly and the divine. Emerson calls upon the individual to study history, arguing that doing so Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Po
The advancing man discovers how deep a property he has in literature,—in all fable as well as in all history. He finds that the poet was no odd fellow who described strange and impossible situations, but that universal man wrote by his pen a confession true for one and true for all.
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At this stage in the essay, Emerson incorporates the study of literature into his discussion of history. He believes that human creation is what allows people to capture and make sense of the divinity of the spirit that unifies all things. This idea reflects the transcendentalist valuation of natural beauty as sublime and noble, as it reflects the underlying omnipresence of God in all things. Emerson argues that the art form of literature is key in making sense of history. He ascribes equal value to “all fable” as well as “all history,” as he believes that abstract human expression is Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor a
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The Individual Character Timeline in History
The timeline below shows where the character The Individual appears in History. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
History
Emerson begins the essay by arguing that every individual has access to the “universal mind”—a collective consciousness of thoughts, feelings, and experiences that are...
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...of human history. He believes that distinct historical entities—peoples, nations, governments—are simply the result of individuals with the same universal mind experiencing different external circumstances.
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...writes history, Emerson argues that it must also read history. Since all experiences are universal, individuals can make sense of history through the perspective of their own lives. Emerson suggests that...
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...is ultimately what gives life its meaning. Since the same universal nature lives within all individuals, significant historical moments happened as much “for us” in the present as they did for...
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...There are divine morals and values that are intrinsic to the universal human spirit, and individuals therefore admire and seek to embody the same character of the “unattained but attainable self.”...
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...history is an ongoing record of the universal human mind and nature, Emerson implores the individual to “read history actively and not passively” by viewing their own life as the source...
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Emerson believes that since history encompasses the universal mind, the individual can relate any historical event to some aspect of their personal life. He urges men...
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...facts are subjective, Emerson believes that all history is essentially biography. He suggests that each individual is living their own personal representation of the same timeless human experience, and that it...
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...argues that all laws are based on the universal nature of human beings, and that individuals must come to understand historical events (the French Reign of Terror or the Salem Witch...
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...ignorance, and violence of the past. History, Emerson suggests, is a personal “problem” that each individual seeks to solve by distancing themselves from the “There or Then” and rooting themselves in...
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But the individual, argues Emerson, also cannot help but see himself in history. In Emerson’s view, a Gothic...
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...a man and “the strata of the rock” in nature. Emerson points out that the individual’s tendency to conjure their own associations of natural beauty when viewing art is a testament...
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...art. He notes that there are men today who resemble ancient Greek sculptures. Just an individual can only make sense of themselves by “becoming” history, an artist must “become” an element...
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...believes that civil and natural history (that of art and literature) must be explained by individual history. Grand works of architecture such as the Santa Croce, the Dome of St. Peter’s,...
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...Emerson, seemingly “trivial” everyday happenings are actually gateways to the timeless essence of humanity. Ordinary individuals often bear witness to the sublime beauty and power of nature in their daily lives....
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Deepening his ongoing argument that history must be personalized, Emerson asserts that an individual’s private biography must be likewise be generalized and applied to all of humanity. He illustrates...
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Reiterating his belief that the universal mind authors history, Emerson notes that everything the individual observes in the external world will correspond to a deep, intrinsic truth within themselves. Conversely,...
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...history (ancient Greek literature, art, and poetry, for example) reflects the intrinsic unity of the individual and the universal. He argues that any given historical era is paralleled by a corresponding...
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...a recognition of what is natural and perfect in human beings. For example, the present-day individual who read Greek mythology are able to sense the “eternity of man” through an enduring...
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Emerson reiterates his belief that the individual experiences a historical age through a parallel “age” in their own life. An ancient prophet,...
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...becomes the oppressor who tyrannizes children, and thus perpetuates the cycle of history. When the individual recognizes the underlying universal principles in his own experiences, they are able to understand and...
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Emerson further emphasizes his point that the individual’s actions are merely personal manifestations of the universal mind. History is a perpetual record of...
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Transitioning to the topic of literature, Emerson discusses how the individual who studies works of the past will recognize the universal mind shared by all human...
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...to influence the entire Western tradition of language, literature, and religion. He believes that the individual is not truly separate from other people, nor from God, and that the soul transmigrates...
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...in the form of art, literature, religion, and other cultural facets. As a result, the individual is able to capture and articulate truths that they do not fully comprehend. For example,...
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...great stretches of time that brought the celestial body into being. Emerson also mentions the individual’s inherent connection to other people, stating his belief that no amount of time would allow...
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Emerson restates his central argument—that a singular unifying consciousness and spirit unites the individual with all other people and things, and that history is the record of this universal...
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...history to be broader and deeper. Only then, says Emerson, can the selfishness of the individual be overcome and the unity of all things, past and present, be understood.
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