Q0077
Ralph Waldo Emerson
A verified English rendering from the curated archive.
English
Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.
Source context
This English passage is associated with Self-Reliance, within the tradition of Transcendentalism. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.
A short reading
Read in the register of self, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Ralph Waldo Emerson's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?
How to cite this quotation
APA: Ralph Waldo Emerson. (n.d.). Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0077
MLA: Ralph Waldo Emerson. “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0077.
Chicago: Ralph Waldo Emerson. “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0077.