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Does Emerson use the wrong word "customs". Should it be "means"?
Society is barbarous, until every industrious man can get his living without dishonest customs.
(Wealth)
2 Answers
- Karen LLv 78 years agoFavorite Answer
No, he didn't use the wrong word. Customs in this sense means habits, practices, ways of doing things.
- barbara vLv 78 years ago
Emerson meant "...without being dishonest".
To determine the correctness of a word choice, you must take into account the times in which a writer lived. In Emerson's day, "customs" meant money, and it also meant behavior.
It is also necessary to read beyond the sentence in question, to take its meaning in its context. Further on, in this very long piece, is this statement: "Success consists in close appliance to the laws of the world, and, since those laws are intellectual and moral, an intellectual and moral obedience." And elsewhere he speaks of integrity in the marketplace, and as a quality of a man's character.
Source(s): Many years teaching English
