Men do what is called a good action, as some piece of courage or charity, much as they would pay a fine in expiation of daily non-appearance on parade. Their works are done as an apology or extenuation of their living in the world, — as invalids and the insane pay a high board. Their virtues are penances. I do not wish to expiate, but to live. My life is for itself and not for a spectacle. I much prefer that it should be of a lower strain, so it be genuine and equal, than that it should be glittering and unsteady. I wish it to be sound and sweet, and not to need diet and bleeding. I ask primary evidence that you are a man, and refuse this appeal from the man to his actions. I know that for myself it makes no difference whether I do or forbear those actions which are reckoned excellent. I cannot consent to pay for a privilege where I have intrinsic right. Few and mean as my gifts may be, I actually am, and do not need for my own assurance or the assurance of my fellows any secondary testimony.

What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.

The directing idea in this passage is Emerson’s favorite – individualism. He speaks out directly against it with quotes like “My life is for itself and not for a spectacle” and “What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think.” His tone is very conversational, which is common in philosophy, and it helps him get his point across by allowing the reader to understand him a little better. It is almost as if this amazingly brilliant and insightful man is gracing “you” with his ideas. The structure is loose since this is from a larger work, but even the fact that it is divided into two paragraphs is seemingly random, since there is no detectable change in subject. Emerson’s style is simply flowing prose that is devoid of literary devices…he prefers instead to focus himself on examples. He talks to the reader directly and uses straightforward concepts, yet his choice of language is interesting. Whereas anyone could understand his ideas, he uses words like “expiate” and “intrinsic,” which can easily exclude many readers. However, considering the directing idea is individuality, perhaps this is Emerson’s method of uniquely defining his work. The mood is a very concerned hope, which Emerson seems to project on all of his writing. In phrases like, “It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it,” we see his earnest knowledge that the human race will never be perfect, but that we can fix it one person at a time. Through resistance to conformity and ignorance, he seems to say, we can build a better world.