"The American Scholar"

Through reading Emerson's "The American Scholar" I often found myself lost in his words and concepts. It was hard for me to follow the thoughts and writings he was delivering to his audience. I overall found the  fourth paragraph the most complex and difficult to understand. We know he is delivering a commencement, but he does so in an intricate, honest manner. As I look at the forth paragraph I wonder what Emerson is saying in the lines, "...in the beginning, divided Man into men, that he might be more helpful to himself; just as the hand was divided into fingers, the better to answer its end." I see it as stating that one will take more and gain more success from himself rather than from taking from others. I believe this is an overall difficult passage to read, but from it, I gained the insight that Emerson has a strong belief in self reliance when it comes to wisdom and knowledge.