Self Reliance- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles."

The quote is from Ralph Waldo Emerson's work Self Reliance. Throughout the entire course of Self Reliance, Emerson continues the theme of trusting yourself over anything else in life. He closes with the above statement. Self Reliance builds towards this point for its entire length. Emerson make the definitive statement that nothing in life can bring you peace unless your personal principles are sound. Nothing in the world that you accomplish can truly make you happy unless you are at peace with yourself. By handling yourself by your own strong set of principles you can achieve a kind of peace that is unacheivable from the outside world. If the principles are good and true, then peace will surely follow you. However, if your principles are not sound, then it is impossible to achive true peace from outside means.