The most Emersonian person that I have ever known would be with out a doubt be
Frederick Jones. I spent two summers working with this man on the Linville River
for the Kawana fishing club. In ТSelf RelianceУ Emerson writes
ТYour genuine action will explain itself and will explain your other
genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothingУ. This is clearly a call
for individuality in men. Though Frederick has probably never read or even heard
of Ralph Waldo Emerson, his way of life is very much in line with what Emerson
claims will be the only true way to inner peace. Frederick is very much a
mystery to the people of Linville, and except for those who know him best, he is
not very well liked. He quit school after the eight grade, yet he is one of the
most intelligent people I have ever known. Like Emerson, Frederick believes that
all he needs to know and understand is with in himself. He claims to have no
regret for quitting school. His argument is that once he learned to read and
write, what he did with those skills should be at his discretion. Frederick is a
wealthy man, but very few people know to what extent. His beat up Ford truck and
old work cloths suggest nothing more that a simple working man. In fact this is
exactly what he is. Frederick has a reputation for having little to say except
for when the issue concerns him, but he is also know for speaking his mind and
standing up for himself regardless of the consequence. Like most people he
loathes taxes, but it is not so much the money that bothers him as it is what he
sees to be criminal waste of his money. His feelings on giving money to the poor
are much the same as EmersonХs: Т... do not tell as a good man did
today of my obligation to put all good men into good situations. Are they my
poor?У(553) If it were up to Frederick, there would not be a dime of him
money spent on welfare. I used to wonder why a man in his financial situation
would subject himself to such a life of labor. I finally asked him on one of the
hottest days of the summer while were chain sawing a trail through a
Rhododendrem jungle. All he said was Тit keeps me aliveУ. It was
only then that I began to see what that river means to him. Having lost his
family to a car accident, that seven mile stretch of river is his only source
peace. Later in that summer while we were walking down the river bank he said
ТOut here things are real. These trout, these mountains, this river-there
is no bull *censored*, and that is one thing I hate-bull *censored*У.
Frederick is a man who depends on no one, and expects nothing. He says what he
feels, and he makes no apology when he offends. Emerson states Тmy life is
not an apology, but a lifeУ (553) This is precisely how Frederick lives,
and it is for this reason that he is not loved by the masses. In his defense,
Frederick is genuine. He is a man that can be taken at face value, and people
always know where they stand with him. It is not that Frederick trys to hurt or
belittle people, but he has a reputation for calling situations as he sees them.
He once told me Тthe truth is often a lot more painful than a lie, but
life is to short for liesУ. Most would agree that tact is not his strong
point, but having spent time with him all I can honestly say it is not his
strong point because it is not important to him. For Frederick integrity is the
most important thing a man can have. In the time that I spent with him I never
heard him do or say anything to suggest that he is not perfectly content with
himself. Emerson writes Тevery great man is uniqueУ(565) With
consistency that I have seen from no other man, Frederick believes in himself,
and that truly is unique. He is not a man that judges otherХs opinions as
wrong, simply different. EmersonХs position that ТNo law can be
sacred to me but that of my natureУ(552) is exactly the way Frederick
lives his life. He is known for holding on to his principles regardless of
outside opinion. Because of the life he has made for himself, he answers to no
man and there are few people who do not respect him for that. This goes right
along with the Emerson's belief that ТIt is only as a man puts off from
himself all external support, and stands alone, that I see him to be strong and
to prevail.У If I have ever known a man that stands alone, it is Frederick
Jones. According to Emerson: He who knows that the power is in the soul, that he
is weak only because he has looked for good out of him and elsewhere, and so
perceiving, throws himself unhesitatingly on his thought, instantly rights
himself, stands in the erect position, commands his limbs, works miracles, just
as a man who stands on his feet is stronger than a man who stands on his head.
(567) When I think of Frederick Jones, I think of a man with a great deal of
self confidence, and an untarnished sense of self-satisfaction. He is a man who
knows who he is and what he stands for. His way of life is what Emerson claims
to be the only way to inner peace. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself,
nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.(567) Whether he knows
it or not, Frederick JonesХ life more resembles Emerson's philosophy more
than other man that I have ever known.