Ralph Waldo Emerson Quote Response Redone

"To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, -- that is genius."
"Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string."
~R. W. Emerson


I believe both quotes to be true, but they are very hard to take truly to heart. We only know our own feelings and thoughts, and often the thoughts and feelings of others are much harder to comprehend.  Many of the paintings of the female painter Frida Kahlo express the feeling that we all feel, that we are alone and in pain. I believe that this is what Emerson is talking about when he talks about the genius of "believing that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men". It is very difficult for us as human beings to accept that anyone else is feeling what we feel especially when we are in pain, of any variety.

The Little Deer, 1946 by Frida Kahlo is a good example of this. In this painting she, after suffering of a personal nature, painted her head on the body of a wounded deer expressing her pain and loneliness.


What I don't agree with though is that he says to believe that makes you a genius. Maybe when he wrote this the word had a slightly different practical meaning. Genius now means some sort of outside acknowledgement of your success not the completely individual and private success that realizing this would give.