list two things that the author explain in self-reliance that a person must do to be a good and complete person.

A re-discovery or simply discovery of nature and the elements is certainly one thing. Emerson felt that man has lost his way by separating himself from the natural elements.

The son of a Unitarian minister, Emerson attended Harvard Divinity School and was employed as a minister for almost three years. Although he disliked the church as an institution, he called on people to search for God in nature. He felt that a religious experience is more likely to be found in “the pastures,” or “a boat in the pond” than in a church.