Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes?

Question

I can't seem to explain what these three quotes of his mean. It's from the essay "Self-Reliance: The complete works of Ralph Waldo Emerson - Volume II" on Transcendentalism.

1. "Man is timid and apologetic; he is no longer upright; he dares not say 'I think,' 'I am,' but quotes some saint or sage."

2. "As men's prayers are a disease of the will, so are their creeds a disease of the intellect."

3. "The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet."

Maybe they're actually very straightforward, but I just don't understand them! If anyone can help me, I'd really appreciate it! Thank you!

Answer 1

1) He means that people today ( his day but also this day ) don't have the courage of their own convictions and don't straightforwardly say "I" but seek the comfort of someone else having said what they want to say. What if they can't find someone else's words to say what they would like to have said?

2) If men have to pray for something, it indicates a deficiency of their will to go out and get what they want on their own. Likewise, instead of freely thinking on their own, they seek to embrace a creed ( a system of belief laid down by someone else ) so as to disappear into the communal voice. In this context, Emerson famously said "God is not a Cosmic Bellhop."

3) An advanced (civilized) person can invent a coach ( a machine for locomotion ) and has lost some natural ability. Today, we see that obesity has replaced the search and work for food as a step backward just as invention has taken a step forward.