Your Other Genuine Actions example essay topic

448 words
Franklin vs. Emerson Ben Franklin's philosophies centered mostly on Enlightenment ideas. He believed in the value of individual freedom and that we should not be governed by a monarchy. Franklin also found that trust in method was the best thing, because that is the method with which he went through so that he would become a better writer. He had an eagerness to expand his knowledge in a quest to learn more. More weight was placed on the discovery of truth through the observation of nature, rather than through the study of the Bible. Ralph Waldo Emerson's philosophies were based on the idea of self-reliance.

He would critique the conventional values of property and ambition. Emerson was known as an experimenter who urged other Americans to reject their deference to old modes and values. He spoke to people about the ideas of creative reading and creative writing, which would reject the traditional oppositions between thinking and acting. Emerson is not afraid to do what he fells necessary regardless of what other people might think of his actions. On page 1627 he says, "Your genuine action will explain itself and explain your other genuine actions".

I believe that he is saying your actions will speak louder than words. If you do an act of goodness then people will think that you are kind and thoughtful despite what they might have heard. On page 1630 he says, "he dares not say 'I think,' 'I am', but quotes some saint or sage". In this quote it seems that he tries to convince people that they should not be afraid to say how they really feel. The only similarity that I was able to see between these two men is that the idea that both of them seem to be a fatherly advice giver. Franklin was very scholarly and a good leader.

The evidence that Emerson might be a fatherly advice giver as well can be seen in a quote from his essay entitled "Self-Reliance". On page 1629 he says, "If I see a trait, my children will see it after me, and in course of time, all mankind". It seems that he is saying that if he acquires good traits he can pass them on to his children or that they will pick up on them on their own and pass them down to their children as well. If his children keep instilling these valuable traits into their own children and they pass them on to the next generation, then in time all of mankind will value the same good traits.