Historic Figures
WITH THE NAME RALPH
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American writer, lecturer, philosopher and leader of the Transcendentalist movement of self-reliance of the mid- 19th century, whose number included Henry David Thoreau, Bronson Alcott, Louisa May Alcott, Walt Whitman and Margaret Fuller. Praising the relationship between man and nature, Ralph Emerson asserted that this was important to man’s essential soul, and that in pursuing the path of virtuous individualism, he paved the way to infinity. He also outraged the Christian community with his solid belief in the goodness of the Christ figure, but not the absolute divinity. In his view, everything and everyone is connected to God, therefore, all is divine. During the Civil War, Emerson was an active abolitionist, often harboring its proponents in his home in Concord, Massachusetts. Admiration of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s character and the unencumbered nature of his philosophy of the human condition are almost as widespread today as they were in his times. In his own words, he embraces a philosophy that resonates as strongly with us today as it did with his contemporaries: “I dare attempt to lay out my own road/That which myself delights in shall be Good/That which I do not want – indifferent,/That which I hate is Bad.â€
Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of the greatest American thinkers who believed in the boundlessness of the private man, individualism and the connection between man and nature in the universe. His philosophy was at the center of the American transcendental movement, and his most widely read essay, "Nature†(1833) represented 10 years of intensive study in religion, philosophy and literature. His writings would have a profound influence on some other great American thinkers: Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman. Some great quotes by Emerson include: “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.†And “Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.â€
Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of the greatest American thinkers who believed in the boundlessness of the private man, individualism and the connection between man and nature in the universe. His philosophy was at the center of the American transcendental movement, and his most widely read essay, "Nature†(1833) represented 10 years of intensive study in religion, philosophy and literature. His writings would have a profound influence on some other great American thinkers: Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman. Some great quotes by Emerson include: “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.†And “Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.â€
Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of the greatest American thinkers who believed in the boundlessness of the private man, individualism and the connection between man and nature in the universe. His philosophy was at the center of the American transcendental movement, and his most widely read essay, "Nature†(1833) represented 10 years of intensive study in religion, philosophy and literature. His writings would have a profound influence on some other great American thinkers: Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman. Some great quotes by Emerson include: “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.†And “Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.â€