Compensation (essay)
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| - | '''Self-help''' or '''self-improvement''' is a self-guided improvement—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial [[psychology|psychological]] basis. Many different self-help group programs exist, each with its own focus, techniques, associated beliefs, proponents and in some cases, [[leadership|leader]]s. Concepts and terms originating in self-help culture and [[Twelve-step program|Twelve-Step]] culture, such as [[Recovery model|recovery]], [[dysfunctional families]], and [[codependency]] have become firmly integrated in mainstream language. | + | "'''Compensation'''" is an essay by [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]]. It appeared in his book ''Essays'', first published 1841. In 1844, ''Essays: Second Series'' was published, and subsequent republishings of ''Essays'' were renamed ''Essays: First Series''. |
| - | Self-help often utilizes publicly available information or [[support groups]], on the Internet as well as in person, where people in similar situations join together. From early examples in self-driven legal practice and home-spun advice, the connotations of the word have spread and often apply particularly to [[education]], [[business]], [[psychology]] and [[psychotherapy]], commonly distributed through the popular genre of [[self-help book]]s. According to the ''APA Dictionary of Psychology'', potential benefits of self-help groups that professionals may not be able to provide include friendship, emotional support, experiential knowledge, [[Identity (social science)|identity]], meaningful roles, and a sense of belonging. | + | ==Summary== |
| + | Emerson is writing about the law of Karma or of Cause and Effect. Everywhere in nature there is dualism. Dualism is present with us because it balances life instead of having excess to destroy. Action or reaction, day/night, up/down, even/odd and spirit/matter is used balance the universe. We must all use moderation in life instead of excess to cause us defects in our lives. If there is excess it needs to be moderated for proper balance. | ||
| - | Groups associated with health conditions may consist of patients and [[caregiver]]s. As well as featuring long-time members sharing [[experience]]s, these health groups can become [[support group]]s and clearing-houses for educational material. Those who help themselves by learning and identifying about health problems can be said to exemplify self-help, while self-help groups can be seen more as peer-to-peer support. | + | ==Quotations== |
| + | "To empty here, you must condense there." | ||
| - | ==History== | + | "There is a crack in every thing God has made." |
| - | Within [[classical antiquity]], [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Works and Days]]'' "opens with moral remonstrances, hammered home in every way that Hesiod can think of." (''The Oxford History of the Classical World'' (Oxford 1991), p. 94) The [[Stoics]] offered ethical advice "on the notion of ''eudaimonia''—of well-being, welfare, flourishing." (Boardman, p. 371) The genre of [[mirror-of-princes writing]]s, which has a long history in [[Greco-Roman]] and Western [[Renaissance]] literature, represents a secular cognate of Biblical wisdom-literature. [[Proverb]]s from many periods, collected and uncollected, embody traditional moral and practical advice of diverse cultures. | + | |
| - | The hyphenated [[English compound|compound]] word "self-help" often appeared in the 1800s in a legal context, referring to the doctrine that a party in a dispute has the right to use lawful means on their own initiative to remedy a wrong. | + | "Whilst the world is thus dual, so is every one of its parts. The entire system of things gets represented in every particle. There is somewhat that resembles the ebb and flow of the sea, day and night, man and woman, in a single needle of the pine, in a kernel of corn, in each individual of every animal tribe." |
| + | "The same dualism underlies the nature and condition of man." | ||
| - | The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' (2nd edition, 1989) traces legal usage back to at least 1875; whereas it detects "self-help" as a moral virtue as early as 1831 in [[Thomas Carlyle|Carlyle]]'s ''[[Sartor Resartus]]''. | + | "Every sweet hath its sour; every evil its good. Every faculty which is a receiver of pleasure has an equal penalty put on its abuse. It is to answer for its moderation with its life." |
| - | For some, [[George Combe]]'s "''Constitution''" [1828], in the way that it advocated [[personal responsibility]] and the possibility of naturally sanctioned self-improvement through education or proper self-control, largely inaugurated the self-help movement;" (John Van Wyhe, ''Phrenology and the Origins of Victorian Scientific Naturalism'' (2004) p. 189) In 1841, an essay by [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]], entitled [[Compensation (essay)|Compensation]], was published suggesting "every man in his lifetime needs to thank his faults" and "acquire habits of ''self-help''" as "our strength grows out of our weakness." (Ralph Waldo Emerson, ''Compensation'' (1841) p. 22) [[Samuel Smiles]] (1812–1904) published the first self-consciously personal-development "self-help" book—entitled ''[[Self-Help (book)|Self-Help]]''—in 1859. Its opening sentence: "Heaven helps those who help themselves", provides a variation of "God helps them that help themselves", the oft-quoted [[maxim (saying)|maxim]] that had also appeared previously in [[Benjamin Franklin]]'s ''[[Poor Richard's Almanac]]'' (1733–1758). In the 20th century, [[Dale Carnegie|Carnegie]]'s success further developed the genre with ''[[How to Win Friends and Influence People]]'' in 1936. Having failed in several careers, Carnegie became fascinated with success and its link to [[self-confidence]], and his books have since sold over 50 million copies. Earlier, in 1902, [[James Allen (author)|James Allen]] published ''[[As a Man Thinketh]]'', which proceeds from the conviction that "a man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts." Noble thoughts, the book maintains, make for a noble person, whilst lowly thoughts make for a miserable person; and [[Napoleon Hill]]'s ''[[Think and Grow Rich]]'' (1937) described the use of repeated [[Optimism|positive thought]]s to attract happiness and wealth by tapping into an "[[Infinity|Infinite]] Intelligence". | + | == See also == |
| - | + | * "[[Self-Reliance]]" | |
| - | ===Late 20th century=== | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | In the final third of the 20th century, "the tremendous growth in self-help publishing...in self-improvement culture"<ref>McGee, p. 12</ref> really took off—something which must be linked to [[postmodernism]] itself—to the way "postmodern subjectivity constructs self-reflexive subjects-in-process."<ref>Elizabeth Deeds Ermath, ''Sequel to History'' (Princeton 1992) p. 58</ref> Arguably at least, "in the literatures of self-improvement...that crisis of subjecthood is not articulated but enacted—demonstrated in ever-expanding self-help book sales."<ref>McGee, p. 177</ref> | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | The conservative turn of the [[neoliberal]] decades also meant a decline in traditional political activism, and increasing "social isolation; Twelve-Step recovery groups were one context in which individuals sought a sense of community...yet another symptom of the psychologizing of the personal"<ref> | + | |
| - | Mcgee, p. 97</ref> to more radical critics. Indeed, "some social theorist{{sic}} have argued that the late-20th century preoccupation with the self serves as a tool of social control: soothing political unrest...[for] one's own pursuit of self-invention."'<ref>McGee, p. 22–3</ref> | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ==Parodies and fictional analogies== | + | |
| - | The self-help world has become the target of [[parody|parodies]]. [[Walker Percy]]'s odd genre-busting ''[[Lost in the Cosmos]]'' has been described as "a parody of self-help books, a philosophy textbook, and a collection of short stories, quizzes, diagrams, thought experiments, mathematical formulas, made-up dialogue". In their 2006 book ''Secrets of The Superoptimist'', authors W.R. Morton and Nathanel Whitten revealed the concept of "superoptimism" as a humorous antidote to the overblown self-help book category. In his comedy special ''[[Complaints and Grievances]]'' (2001), [[George Carlin]] observes that there is "no such thing" as self-help: anyone looking for help from someone else doesn't technically get "self" help; and one who accomplishes something without help, didn't need help to begin with. In [[Margaret Atwood]]'s semi-satiric dystopia ''[[Oryx and Crake]]'', university literary studies have declined to the point that the protagonist, Snowman, is instructed to write his thesis on self-help books as literature; more revealing of the authors and of the society that produced them than genuinely helpful. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ==See also== | + | |
| - | * [[Arete]] | + | |
| - | * [[Codependent No More]] | + | |
| - | * [[Conduct book]] | + | |
| - | * [[Mirror-of-princes writing]] | + | |
| - | * [[Mutual aid society|Mutual Aid Societies]] | + | |
| - | * [[New Thought Movement]] | + | |
| - | * [[Outline of self]] | + | |
| - | * [[Personal Development]] | + | |
| - | * [[Preschool education]] | + | |
| - | * [[Positive Psychology]] | + | |
| - | * [[Self-experimentation]] | + | |
| - | * [[Self (psychology)]] | + | |
| - | * [[Self-help groups for mental health]] | + | |
| - | * [[Sophism]] | + | |
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"Compensation" is an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson. It appeared in his book Essays, first published 1841. In 1844, Essays: Second Series was published, and subsequent republishings of Essays were renamed Essays: First Series.
[edit]
Summary
Emerson is writing about the law of Karma or of Cause and Effect. Everywhere in nature there is dualism. Dualism is present with us because it balances life instead of having excess to destroy. Action or reaction, day/night, up/down, even/odd and spirit/matter is used balance the universe. We must all use moderation in life instead of excess to cause us defects in our lives. If there is excess it needs to be moderated for proper balance.
[edit]
Quotations
"To empty here, you must condense there."
"There is a crack in every thing God has made."
"Whilst the world is thus dual, so is every one of its parts. The entire system of things gets represented in every particle. There is somewhat that resembles the ebb and flow of the sea, day and night, man and woman, in a single needle of the pine, in a kernel of corn, in each individual of every animal tribe." "The same dualism underlies the nature and condition of man."
"Every sweet hath its sour; every evil its good. Every faculty which is a receiver of pleasure has an equal penalty put on its abuse. It is to answer for its moderation with its life."
[edit]
See also
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