Maleliness and Manhood
According to Emerson, every man was born a genius in the sense that what is true for one man is true for all men. Many people are afraid to air their views because they see nothing valuable to share or are so scared of being criticized (Cho, 2018). Thus, Emerson speaks to everyone to believe in themselves and their thoughts. A woman is considered to know everything that is “all wisdom woman knows,” though this is taken for granted. Any opinion shared by a woman was considered a sign of revolution. Emerson believed in the power of instincts and individualism in the sense of believing in ourselves and speaking up our thoughts. That is, we can become self-reliant and non-conformist for the greater good as not to let fear take the lead. He terms conformists as small-minded people and foolish clinging in the quote, “We have always done it that way.” When he says, “then I will live from the Devil,” he means on the acts of self-mortification to prove a point of being helpful. That is, people’s virtues are not as they seem.
Paine claimed that he believed in a supreme being, though exercised deism that made people perceive him as an atheist (JSTOR, 2020). Before he died, he called out for a priest who told him that a Roman Catholic priest would do him good. This act shows that he still held on to his Christianity beliefs though he was termed atheists for being a deist. For Paine, the Bible was sacred, but humans invented Christianity. This practice made those in authority uneasy. Among the quotes he used to express his beliefs is “Independence is my happiness, and I view things as they are, without regard to place or person; my country is the world, and my religion is to do good.” As much as he believed in the religion, he did not seem afraid to air his views and thoughts on how he perceived the church and its doctrines, and his agenda was to promote logic.
References
Cho, W. (2018, May 23). Ralph Waldo Emerson on Self-Reliance, Cultivating Your Genius, and The Curse Of Society. Student Voices. Retrieved from https://mystudentvoices.com/ralph-waldo-emerson-on-self-reliance-cultivating-your-genius-and-the-curse-of-society-3805ce67981e
JSTOR. (2020). The Death of Thomas Paine: Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia. JSTOR, 119-123. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/44210544?seq=1