The world is pliably linguistic. Have faith in the way you see it! Allow yourself to do what you do and feel what you feel. Be a healthy individualist. Respect your fellow woman and your shared source.Hippies talk all the time about universal spirits and mother nature and blah blah blah... none of them give plausible or interesting explanations of what they mean. Emerson points out very simply that Nature--everything that exists outside of me--makes up the common store of our language. Nature is...

Ralph Waldo Emerson covered many aspects of men in many essays. Nature-oriented and thought-provoking, many points have been discussed around men’s relation with nature, how men can learn truth from nature, and what virtues men can possess while interacting with nature. In a society where we emphasize on external pursuits, these essays emphasize on internal pursuit - how to build intellect, will, and affection, what forms nature of a man. Mostly importantly, how men should see through the surfac...

I can't help but start this review with a truism: It's near impossible to read American books or process American popular culture or politics without somehow grappling with the legacy of Ralph Waldo Emerson. We know better than ever that no claim to understand any era can be made without reference to a diversity of voices; however, while it's true that Emerson's easy to lump into the category of overrated privileged white men, it's also true that in his writings intersect just about every major

In this essay he paints the relationship humans possess with nature and how we as human's can find solace and inspiration in nature. He paints an entire philosophical thought process of how we are connected with all parts of the God's creation. I am sure Emerson's philosophy could be debunked by serious philosophers. Yet, this essay, as one who learned to worship God in nature, instinctively jived with me.

I can't resist Emerson. I enjoyed Nature much less than "Self Reliance" but I still found myself admiring his prose. For a writer who said "I hate quotations," he sure supplies a plethora of pithy lines. My main problem with Nature was how anthropocentric it was. Nature is a powerful force through which the poet experiences the sublime and can gather fundamental truths, yet Emerson repeatedly asserts that it is a servant of "man," which bothered me. I was also slightly disturbed by Emerson's ent...

read a few essays in this collection for class (definitely did not read the whole book...). emerson is hella wordy but i did like his emphasis on renewing your connection to nature as well as his critique on scholars merely reading and rehashing great authors, rather than fully reflecting and making their own opinions on literature.

Passages like this are great:"To the body and mind which have been cramped by noxious work or company, nature is medicinal and restores their tone. The tradesman, the attorney comes out of the din and craft of the street, and sees the sky and the woods, and is a man again. In their eternal calm, he finds himself."Parts like this are more troubling:"Nature is thoroughly mediate. It is made to serve. It receives the dominion of man as meekly as the ass on which the Savior rode."The essay alternate...

...and five stars for his tribute to Thoreau.

Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of those names -- you've heard it, you have some idea why he was important, but really, when you get right down to it, you don't know much beyond the name.So, for example, when I was reading one of the essays is this book, this sentence appeared: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." I've always loved that line, but had no idea it was Emerson who wrote it, nor that it was from an 1841 essay called "Self-Reliance."But that sentence also reflects the

I remember someone saying that the lead essay in this collection - Nature - was written when Emerson was still reeling from the loss of a loved one: I believe it was his son.It shows in its last few sentences.As consolation for his deep grief, apparently he then took up the study of Eastern religions (particularly Vedanta). What must his neighbours, with their sturdy and rugged New England ways, have thought of this?My guess is many saw him as an oddball (and for some strait-laced presbyters, su...

Picked up a pdf of this book when I saw that Harry Styles was teasing something with it and I wasn't disappointed! Can manage to be more wordy than thought possible in a few places which left me skimming a few pages, (can you blame me?) But overall I am a sucker for old guys who had nothing to do but write underappreciated wordy-ass essays about the "natural world", so this was right up my wheelhouse. Really enjoyed it! Was it anything too special though? Not necessarily.

Who doesn't love Emerson? Raise your hand so that I can stop being your friend.

God, I really can't say enough about this piece. I'll be writing an extensive review over this weekend.

I'm not sure if this is the exact copy I have, but the essay on Nature is so beautifully written. He manages to describe the simple spiritual upliftment people can access through natural scenery. Emerson was very controversial in his time because his philosophies went against the Church's idea that you must go through the institution/a third party to access spirituality. Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, Emerson writes brilliantly and I find his words life-affirming - they make me happy to b...

beautiful. "The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present, they are inaccessible; but all natural objects make a kindred expression, when the mind is open to their influence."

My version had essays on Nature, History and Self-Reliance. My impression was that Emerson was one smart guy. The essays are packed with wisdom in so many places across so many areas of thought. It's definitely not always easy to read. The writing is often frilly and complex. It's also threaded with examples from classics (I haven't read) throughout. That said he's an extremely poetic writer and the book was worth reading for any one of his lines of wisdom from any of the essays. I particularly

Nature I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII +Address:The American Scholar +An Address to the Senior Class in Divinity College +Literary Ethics +The Method of Nature +Lectures:Man the Reformer +Introductory Lecture on the Times +The Conservative +-The Transcendentalist -The Young American +

Emerson speaks about Nature with such an enthusiasm.He speaks of the integrity of impression given by natural objects.He believes that in woods, we return to reason and faith and that nothing can befall us in life- no disgrace and no calamity.......and we feel that we are part or particle of God.But to whom this reason appease? Its true that that the existence of nature and Us too can not be ignored, but what joy does it give to the souls who are looking out for a reason for the existence itself...

I think if we all read American trascendentalists, the stoics and Spinoza...the world will be a better place.

This book is a collection of essays by the American philosopher - Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson seeks to guide the development of young America and its citizens though scholarly discourse. If the bill of rights provided for the elemental rights of Americans, this book details how those rights should be exercised. In reading the book I was struck by how much the tenets of Transcendental philosophy overlapped with Tao philosophy specifically; the "oneness" of the world. Of all the book's essays my