Emerson makes the claim that in order to be a success you simply have to believe in yourself and your ideas. You have to portray yourself as your actual self and question all that is put in front of you, be an individual and don't conform to typical. I disagree completely. We live in society where everyone is either the same or trying to become the same. People speak the same, act a specific way, and even to a certain extent dress the same way. There is a standard. A quality one must contain to even consider success. Yes, in some cases a unique attribute or undiscovered idea could get you ahead but most commonly taking the right steps and conforming will get you on top.
I also disagree with Emerson’s statement that new work built upon previous work is only half credible. That is completely false, everything thing we do is building upon others. All research, work, or inventions is to further previous study. We would never get anywhere if we relied on one source for every idea. New things are a culmination of multiple people’s ideas and hard work.