It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs. ... Emerson does admit the difficulty inherent in being a non-conformist, remarking, "This rule [nonconformity], equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. ... Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong is what is against it"(21-22). ... Thoreau espouses this idea as well saying, "The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right...

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• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate