How to Make a Comment

Saturday, November 7, 2009

To make a comment on Emerson's Essay, Self-Reliance, or Adam Khan's translation of it, click on "comments" or "Post comments" near the bottom of the page. Please identify yourself, even if you have to make up a name, in case several people leave a comment. That way, others can more easily answer a specific person. I also suggest you subscribe to the comments, so you will get new comments in your email inbox, with an easy way to answer them.

35 comments:

Ange said...

Hi there!!
I am a big fan of Emerson and was intrigued and thrilled to find your 'translation' when looking for the English version of a text of his I had found in French. Looking forward to reading more of your blog. I too specialise in 'feel good' with a foundation, through my art.

Ange said...

Oops, forgot to leave my name, sorry!
Ange http://wordsonwood.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

I think the translation was great, thanks it helps a lot!

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Could never have understood it without your helpful translation.

Unknown said...

i think your translation is brilliant adam. thank you for all the work you do, it helps and it works. james.

Ambar said...

Bravo! Your translation was absolutely amazing! ;]

Unknown said...

The "original" version is missing some punctuation. For example, the sentence "There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion..." makes no sense without commas after "for better" and "for worse."

Adam Li Khan said...

Lars,

I typed up Self-Reliance from the oldest copy I have. It has no copyright date, but it is an ancient book published by The Rogers Company. My guess is it was published in late 1800's.

Punctuation rules were a bit different then, so although the missing commas don't to make sense now, the sentence structure may very well have been perfectly correct back then.

The reason I chose the oldest copy I could find is that I had noticed newer copies "correcting" spellings and capitalizations, making them more modern, and I wanted to reproduce Emerson's essay as closely as I could to the version he wrote himself.

Thank you for noticing and thank you for bringing it to my attention, because if it was a typo, I would have wanted to know.

Anonymous said...

thank you very much for your translation of Self-Reliance. it was so helpful, because i really enjoy Emerson's work, but i cannot understand it as well as i would like. I finally understand exactly what he is saying and i can and will apply it to my life. Perfect

Anonymous said...

THIS TRANSLATION IS AMAZING!!! It's as if back of your writing lies the reincarnated spirit of Emerson. I am a huge follower of Napoleon Hill's philosophy who mentions in his books, magazines, and lectures that Emerson was one of the people he emulated. Thank you for your incredible insight and wisdom.

Juddha Fitzgerald
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/juddha-fitzgerald

Jessie said...

Thanks Adam for your amazing translation. I have read the original many times before but this time it really made sense... it helped so much to read Emerson's wisdom in Modern day English. I am wondering if you have published this in book format as well as your "no apology" writing which I really enjoyed. I'd love to buy it if it is available. Keep up the great work!

Anonymous said...

i think that some of what he said really applies to society right now.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much! Your translation really cleared up a lot of those strangely worded passages

Sean said...

Thank you Adam...wonderful translation. Your dedication to Emerson is admirable. Thanks for your contribution!

amelie said...

Oh my gosh thank you so much! I have a test tomorrow for an Honors English class and I just couldn't really understand Emerson, even though I wanted to. When I read this I remembered the stuff from the original that had confused me, and it all made sense. Considering how it's late, I'm recovering from nerd freak out stress, and I think you just saved my grade, I can honestly say that you are the most amazing, wonderful person in the world right now. Thank you so much. I also shared this link with my friends in the class, who i hope did the same. You helped a lot of panicked students tonight, Mr. Khan.

Unknown said...

Fantastic piece of writing. I am a massive fanof the essay and was rediscovering it with a view to perhaps using it in a paper I may write if i return to university. i re-read the original and your 'translation' and you have done a wonderful job. Felix

Anonymous said...

thank you for 'translating'. :)

Deb said...

Thank you for this translation. This moved me and quite honestly, has changed my life. I adore these words. They have gave me some passion back in to my life.

John said...

Hi Adam,

What a great thing you have done! It reminds me that the world NEEDS Emerson now more than ever. How far away we have moved from the ideals of relying on the Self! I only hope people will read both your excellent translation (for clarity) and the original (for its beautiful poetic expression). Keep up the good work!

John

laplace said...

I have spent several weeks trying to make sense of this essay. What you have done is indeed a great thing. Thanks for being a blessing.

Anonymous said...

excellent work Mr. Adam
-Sandeep

Dave said...

Thank you very much for this excellent translation. I picked up Self Reliance and have been working on fully understanding it. This really helped reinforce what I had read in a way i coud understand. I'm planning on comparing it with Emmerson's version soon. Once again, thanks!

Anonymous said...

Melissa- Thank you for this translation. You have a true gift and I thank you again for taking the time to do it.

Patrick said...

What a wonderful work to have made , this has shone a bright torch on a work I know so very well and clarifies details which were before in shadow .

Anonymous said...

I would just like to thank you for this translation. I am a fan of Emerson, but his writings can be a bit hard to understand at times, so this page was quite helpful. Thanks!

Susan said...

Profound thanks to you Adam. Your illuminating translation is as generous and as life-giving as Emerson's essay. Susan

Anonymous said...

Beautiful and insightful translation. Thank you so much

Adam Li Khan said...

I just published Self-Reliance, Translated as a small book. Now available on Amazon here.

Read more about it on Moodraiser here.

Anonymous said...

You sir, are a hero among men

Abhinesh said...

Thank you very much. I wouldn't be able to read or understand Emerson's essays without your help. My interest on Emerson writings improved just because of you Adam. Thanks a lot.

Abhinesh Maddala

Abhinesh said...

Thank you very much. I wouldn't be able to read or understand Emerson's essays without your help. My interest on Emerson writings improved just because of you Adam. Thanks a lot.

Abhinesh Maddala

Saumitra said...

Dear Adam thanks a lot to you for this idea and effort. I think it is also grace of great Emerson grace of spirit that it has been made possible through you .keep doing my best wishes are there with you.

Saumitra Trivedi,INDIA

Haleema said...

I have exams in few hours and it has cleared my understanding of essay. Was a great help! Amazing work

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