Essayist Championed the Individual and Nature
Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel
American essayist, poet, and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882) was one of the leading thinkers of the 19th Century, helping to define and shape the core thoughts and beliefs on which the nation was built.
In the first century of its independence much of America’s development revolved around Emerson’s ideas of fairness to others, self-reliance, and respect for nature.
A strong believer in the power of the individual to accomplish great things and overcome obstacles, Emerson stated, “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
His views on independence and freedom inspired famed abolitionist Bronson Alcott (father of Little Women author Louisa May Alcott), Teddy Roosevelt, environmentalist John Muir, poets Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost, and countless others.
A self-described “naturalist,” Emerson wrote in his essay Nature about the need for people to take time to immerse themselves in the natural world and focus on non-material things. This was something that President Teddy Roosevelt took to heart and influenced him in spearheading the creation of the country’s first national parks.
Emerson was a mentor to Walden author Henry David Thoreau and Leaves of Grass poet Walt Whitman. It was on Emerson’s secluded Walden Pond property in Massachusetts where Thoreau lived alone for two years communing with nature and writing his 1854 landmark book about living a simpler life.
With admirers in Europe, as well, Emerson’s contemporaries included acclaimed English Romantic poets William Wordsworth (“Tintern Abbey”) and Samuel Taylor Coleridge (“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”). Both shared Emerson’s views on nature and its role in providing emotional comfort and stimulating creativity.
So many of the things we think and do today have their roots in Emerson’s philosophies: “Life is a journey, not a destination.” “It’s not the length of life, but the depth.” “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
“Don’t be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.” “Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.”
The more we’ve learned about Emerson, the more SurfWriter Girls marvel at the broad scope of his vision and his belief in what we can accomplish through our own efforts. He wrote, “Sorrow looks back. Worry looks around. Faith looks up.” A gifted wordsmith, he could write simply, too: “Be silly. Be honest. Be kind.”
A leader who inspired other leaders to achieve greatness, Emerson recognized people’s longings for motivation, noting: “Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we can be.”
What is success? Emerson said, “To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” One of his best-known words of advice was: “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s ideas and ideals are as bright and new today as when they were first conceived, spurring the new nation of America to achieve greatness.
And they leave a long trail to guide us.
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