" Self-Reliance " is an 1841 essay written by American transcendentalist philosopher and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. It contains the most thorough statement of one of Emerson's recurrent themes: the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency, and follow his own instincts and ideas. This essay is an analysis into the nature of the "aboriginal self on which a universal reliance may be grounded." Emerson emphasizes the importance of individualism and its effect on an individual's satisfaction in life.