I had to read this to prepare for an American Literature midterm recently but just absolutely fell in love with the writing. So clear and delineated, it absolutely makes you want to chuck any... more

I had to read this to prepare for an American Literature midterm recently but just absolutely fell in love with the writing. So clear and delineated, it absolutely makes you want to chuck any inclinations of conformity out the window. An advocate of staunch individualism, he is the writer I most relate to during his era. I quote nearly all of his quotes all of the time, since they seem to apply to every situation.

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...Speak what you think now in hard words and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you... more

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...Speak what you think now in hard words and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. — 'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.' — Is it so bad to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood."

Well, it sure is a good thing "I am large, I contain multitudes," then, huh?