What is a summary of "The American Scholar" by Ralph Waldo Emerson?

“The American Scholar” is a speech that Emerson gave to the Harvard inductees of Phi Beta Kappa (a prestigious honor society) in 1837. In this speech, Emerson urges the Harvard students to value self-reliance and never to underestimate the importance of everyday life.

Colleges and books only copy the language which the field and the work-yard made.

Emerson almost immediately mentions three main influences that should direct both scholars and all humanity: the natural world,...

“The American Scholar” is a speech that Emerson gave to the Harvard inductees of Phi Beta Kappa (a prestigious honor society) in 1837. In this speech, Emerson urges the Harvard students to value self-reliance and never to underestimate the importance of everyday life.

Colleges and books only copy the language which the field and the work-yard made.

Emerson almost immediately mentions three main influences that should direct both scholars and all humanity: the natural world, the wisdom found in books, and the action that should be the result of the first two things. Emerson believes the natural world should be devoutly studied because it is our one true connection to the spiritual world. Only in the natural world can we begin to understand ourselves and make a connection with the divine. Next, books contain the wisdom from the past, but cannot be studied in a solitary fashion (creating “bookworms”). Emerson suggests gleaning the wisdom from books, but then venturing out into new territory. In reality, Emerson hopes that these scholars of the new “America” will create their own literature apart from the past examples from Europe.

Thinking is the function. Living is the functionary.

This last quotation advocates for the importance of action. Pondering the natural world and the literature of Europe will do no good if the scholar does not act upon what he or she learns. Emerson insists, then, that the learned scholar trust himself or herself and exhibit the self-reliance needed to find the spiritual in the smallest parts of everyday life.