Ralph Waldo Emerson, a renowned transcendentalist, shared many universal truths during the period of Transcendentalism, which further advocated the ideals of the period. This maxim in particular expresses that your own identity and perspective of the world is what is most important in the end.
Emerson states that nothing is as important as you, regarding the path you choose and the ideals you create for yourself. In other words, Emerson encourages people to not succumb to society's expectations of who a person should be, but instead live a lifestyle you desire to live. This maxim particularly expresses the theme of individuality and enforces society to be their own. During
Emerson's lifetime, he had been a strong advocate of the abolitionist
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In the play, "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail," by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, Henry
David Thoreau, the protagonist of the play, is shown to advocate self-awareness and making your own decisions based on your own beliefs. As expressed in the maxim, the ideals of transcendentalism and individuality, regardless of society's expectations, is evidently shown in the text.
In the play, Henry David Thoreau is thrown in jail for one night because he refuses to pay taxes that support the Mexican-American War. Although it was considered an American duty to pay taxes to support the country's decisions, Thoreau did not believe that the Mexican-American War was the right direction towards prosperity, so he risked the consequence of prison rather than succumb to the directions given to him which would falsify his own ideals. Emerson's maxim is shown in the plot of the play as a whole. Emerson's maxim expresses going against societal norms and going your own path, and Henry did exactly that when he refused to pay taxes unlike any other American citizen. Other