greatest wisdom book

Chapter 52 Independence: Continuous Enrichment of Self 4
Belief in authority equals loss of self
No monarchy is secure without an army of its own.On the other hand, a monarchy which, under adverse circumstances, does not have the strength to defend itself with confidence, is obliged to rely entirely on chance.Wise men have often made the opinion and judgment: "The weakest and most insecure thing in the world is the reputation of a power which is not based on its own strength."

——Chapter 13 Reinforcements, Mixed Armies, and National Armies

A wise sage once said: "Everyone should carefully observe which way his heart is pulling him, and then go all out to choose this way." A person who really knows himself and believes in himself He is God who controls his own destiny.He doesn't need to bow his head and worship to external forces and figures, he can follow suit, but he will never be swayed, his destiny is hidden in his heart.

The most reliable thing in the world is not the authority of others, but the authority obtained through one's own strength.You are the authority, you have the right to speak, and you can command everything.

In March 1842, in the Broadway Society Library, the famous writer Emerson said in a speech: "Who said that we in the United States do not have our own poems? Our poets and writers are here..." The great writer was impassioned What he said made the young Whitman who listened to the speech very excited. Whitman had unprecedented strength and firm belief in his heart. He was determined to devote himself to all walks of life to observe and write a new book that reflected American social life. , An extraordinary collection of poems.

In 1854, Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" finally came out.The unrestrained writing style and passionate emotion are different from the traditional metrical language style, expressing democratic ideas and strong protest against racial, ethnic and social oppression.This collection of poems caused great repercussions in the European and American poetry circles.Its birth also made Emerson very excited. He praised the content of "Leaves of Grass" and believed that the American poetry circle had finally begun to rise.

But "Leaves of Grass" did not sell well because of Emerson's high praise, because its non-rhyming situation and too radical content were not always accepted.But Whitman therefore increased confidence and courage. At the end of 1855, he printed a second edition, in which he added 20 new poems.

In 1860, when Whitman decided to print the third edition of "Leaves of Grass", Emerson tried his best to dissuade Whitman from deleting several poems about "sex" in the collection. Greatly affected the sales of the third edition.Whitman said to Emerson: "Will it be a good book after deletion?" Emerson retorted: "I didn't say it's still a good book, I said it would be a good book if it was deleted!" But Whitman still refused to give in. He said: "In the depths of my soul, my ideas do not obey any shackles. "Leaves of Grass" cannot have any deletions, because that means apology and surrender, the dirtiest in the world The best book is the one that has been abridged, and I would rather let it wither."

At Whitman's insistence, the third edition of "Leaves of Grass" was published, but the result was not as Emerson expected, but was a great success.This collection of poems not only spread throughout the United States, but also entered Europe and more places.

Emerson is an authority in the poetry world, but the identification of the authority may not be correct, just like Emerson’s "Leaves of Grass", which was praised at the beginning, was not popular, but later he decided that the uncut "Leaves of Grass" would not sell well Instead, it sold out.Authority can be broken by anyone, and Whitman is sure of his choice and has gained a reputation by relying on his own strength.

Tagore once said: "Unless the mind is freed from the slavery of prejudice, it cannot look at life from the correct point of view, or truly understand human nature." The most deadly prejudice of a person is that he regards the excellence of others as unbreakable.If we stop working in the literary world because we read the masterpiece "Dream of Red Mansions", give up our dream on the green field because we watched Maradona play football, and kill our musical talent because we heard Pavarotti's singing If it is divided, then we will always live in the shadow of authority, and there will never be such figures as Cao Xueqin, Pavarotti, and Maradona in the world.

So don't lose confidence in your words and deeds because of the influence of authority, otherwise we will lose ourselves and never become creative characters.

(End of this chapter)