Technically, I listened to this rather than reading the edition I listed, and half-read a copy from a textbook, but I can't list the audio version to which I listened, and don't want to list the entire textbook, so...Emerson was a product of his time, and spoke to the people of his time, about his time. In spite of this, he had a lot of practical wisdom, and for the modern reader who can read past his outdated ideas (we educate more people than rich white men now), there is plenty to glean.

My favorite part about this essay is it’s place in history. Emerson gave this address at Harvard in 1837 and everyone loved it. Then, a year later, he was invited back by the senior class. The address of 1838 was so controversial that Emerson wasn’t invited back for over 20 years! The head faculty blamed the entire event on the senior class.

I loved this essay so much. It has so many interesting ideas. Emerson's structure makes it really easy to follow his thoughts. I especially loved his description of how man is influenced by books and nature and how freedom is essential to fulfilling our potential.

"I ask not for the great, the remote, the romantic; what is doing in Italy or Arabia; what is Greek art, or Provençal minstrelsy; I embrace the common, I explore and sit at the feet of the familiar, the low".

Boring

I read this for my American Lit class, everyone should read this book. Emerson was a prolific writer. Beautiful words. I’m glad this was assigned to me.

One of my favorite new quotes (ever):"To the young mind, every thing is individual, stands by itself. By and by, it finds how to join two things, and see in them one nature; then three, then three thousand ... But what is classification but the perceiving that these objects are not chaotic, and are not foreign, but have a law which is also a law of the human mind? The astronomer discovers that geometry, a pure abstraction of the human mind, is the measure of planetary motion. The chemist finds p...

This is a speech given by Emerson in 1837 and basically outlines what a true "American" scholar should be. The basic idea is that rather than becaming an intellectual, pedantic, bookworm, the American scholar should be one who goes to nature and books for inspiration and then creates--so rather than living by the light of others or becoming a "parrot of other man's thinking" the true scholar delves into his own soul to discover truth and upon discovering it has a duty to act and share what he di...

Writing as a true scholar, Emerson addresses the American scholar regarding the nature of scholarship. A scholar is not who loses himself in the thoughts and books of others, but the one that loses himself in the beauty of his own mind. Some excerpts: It is one of those fables which out of an unknown antiquity convey an unlooked-for wisdom, that the gods, in the beginning, divided Man into men, that he might be more helpful to himself; just as the hand was divided into fingers, the better to ans...

Somewhat underwhelming. Read the version at: https://emersoncentral.com/texts/natu...Highlights:Meek young men grow up in libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views, which Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon, have given, forgetful that Cicero, Locke, and Bacon were only young men in libraries, when they wrote these books.andAction is with the scholar subordinate, but it is essential. Without it, he is not yet man. Without it, thought can never ripen into truth. Whilst the world hangs be...

This is a brilliant essay, and Lowell was right in saying that this is the "intellectual declaration of Independence of the American minds". 1. A scholar must not become a bookworm. Take inspiration from the books of antiquity and create new. 2. A scholar must not be lost in dingy cells. He must also be a man of action. Action will complement and enrich his intellect. 3. Locke, Bacon and Cicero were also young men once. So, dare to walk the untravelled roads. This essay has so many quotations on...

Everyone on the planet should read this and live by his words. Warning: have Google or Alexa nearby for definitions. If you're intelligent or well read enough to not need the aid of a dictionary, God Bless, I needed the help. 61 pages of absolute clarity - you will feel more complete after the read.

Once a year I read The American Scholar. Just profound!

Interesting view of human nature and motivations.

Emerson is now a classic author, read by at least six generations of American high school students. It is easy to see him as a stuffy Boston Brahmin, pontificating his Platonic and Vedantic insights from a rarefied spiritual plane.But that would be a mistake, an unjust caricature. When Emerson, at the age of thirty-four, burst forth on the American academic scene with a lecture to Harvard’s Phi Beta Kappa Society (later called “The American Scholar”), he spoke as a man acquainted with adversity,...

I had my great moments (like how come I never thought of this: it is still relevant today) to blah it's alright.

Emerson's essay on Compensation hit home in a way no other philosophical essay ever has. He put into words that gut sensaion I'd called "my luck," "murphy's law," what a lot of people call karma. Whatever it is, Emerson had absolutely masterful insight into the complexities of life. Whether his speculation on the "whys" are true, his understanding of the "what" is amazing.This is one of my favorite pieces ever written.

Actual Rating: 3 Stars RTC

I think I can make a rare generalization here; anyone who goes through kindergarten to 12th grade education (which is the last year of secondary school before university, for my non-U.S. friends) in the U.S. will have had to read this essay and Self-Reliance. I have read Emerson in school on multiple occasions and have recently re-visited him. The reason why I have waited so long to add him to Goodreads is because he is, for all intents, BORING!I do not mean he is not revolutionary or a controve...

My initial thoughts are that Emerson is saying we must think as individuals, and if we do that right, we will think as a superior group overall. Typically, the thoughts of a collective are regarded negatively as collective implies the reliance on the ancients or the leading figures of the day. Emerson warns against following the paths of several categories of these people, from the bookworm who speaks of the tales and proclaims the ideals of others but not his own, to those who act without thoug...