Ralph Waldo Emerson
1803-1882 | Boston & Concord, Massachusetts
The American scholar who declared intellectual independence. Emerson left the ministry to become a prophet of self-reliance, teaching that each person contains the divine spark. His essays - "Nature," "Self-Reliance," "The Over-Soul" - became scripture for transcendentalism. He gathered around him in Concord the greatest American minds: Thoreau, Hawthorne, the Alcotts. His lectures drew thousands who came to hear a quiet man speak of the infinite within the ordinary soul.
Emerson's Essays
The foundations of American philosophy"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."
- Attributed to Emerson
"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
- Self-Reliance
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
- Attributed to Emerson
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
- Self-Reliance
"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be."
- Attributed to Emerson