The Crown of Individuality IV

"Individuality is the only real life. It is breathing the ozone of mental, moral, spiritual freedom. Nature made the countless thousands of flowers, trees, birds and animals without permitting two to be precisely alike. She stamped them with—individuality. She did it in a greater way for man. Some people seem to spend most of their …

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Self-Reliance III

I am of the opinion that material prosperity must be accompanied by internal growth if there is to be true progress. One without the other gives the appearance of progress, but look closely and you see that what appears from the outside to be an old western town is nothing more than a movie set, …

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Self-Reliance II

Your apprenticeship to life provides you with the opportunity to discover your weaknesses and overcome them before the stakes are raised. It matters not if your apprenticeship begins at 15 or 50, for life is merciful to those who yield to its fortifying spirit. Overcoming weaknesses does much more than simply fill in weak spots. …

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Self-Reliance I

My uncle and I had a short discussion about the Bildungsroman the other day, a genre of novel that focuses on the moral and psychological development of its main character. It is what we might call a "coming of age story," where the protagonist matures to find his place in society. Goethe's Wilhelm Meister is …

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