Emerson: Who is He that Shall Control Me?

Who is he that shall control me?

Why may not I act & speak & write & think

with entire freedom? What am I to the

Universe, or, the Universe, what

is it to me?

Who hath forged the chains of Wrong & Right,

of Opinion & Custom? And must I wear them?

Is Society my anointed King?

Or is there any mightier community

or any man or more than man,

whose slave I am?

I am solitary in the vast society of beings;

I consort with no species; I indulge no

sympathies. I see the world, human,

brute & inanimate nature; I am in

the midst of them, but not of them;

I hear the song of the storm— the

Winds & warring Elements sweep by me—

but they mix not with my being.

I see cities & nations & witness passions—

the roar of their laughter— but I partake

it not;— the yell of their grief— it touches

no chord in me; their fellowships & fashions,

lusts & virtues, the words & deeds they

call glory & shame— I disclaim them all.

I say to the Universe, Mighty one! thou art

not my mother; Return to chaos, if thou wilt,

I shall still exist. I live. If I owe my being,

it is to a destiny greater than thine.

Star by Star, world by world,

system by system shall be crushed—

but I shall live.

Journal, Dec. 21, 1823