With the metaphor of lingering sleep, Ralph Waldo Emerson once voiced his concern over the loss of the self--the sense of uncertainty about where one is trying to go, how one should live, and what one should (and might want to) say. This might be seen as symptomatic of a kind of nihilism. The sense of loss that Emerson expresses is still relevant today to some young college students. This article presents an alternative vision of the education of voice following Stanley Cavell's idea of Emersonian moral perfectionism. The author first sets the scene for the discussion by looking briefly at a recent attempt to examine and promote certain conceptions of voice in education, one given by Dennis Carlson. It is in part against the typical limitations disclosed by his account of voice that the thought of Cavell on this subject is explored. Second, the author discusses Cavell's theme of finding one's voice based upon his writing on the film "Stella Dallas," while critically examining Paul Standish's interpretation of Cavell's reading of this. Finally the author draws out some educational implications of a Cavellian education of voice--of the Emersonian perfectionist education whose foremost aim is to awaken the impulse of living forward, and living towards what is beyond the self. (Contains 1 note.)