Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

I'd only read quotes by Emerson and wondered what surrounded those quotes. It turns out they were surrounded by still more quotes. Like Elmore Leonard who has said he leaves out of his books the parts people skim over, Emerson leaves out the parts that can't stand alone as quotes. I can't imagine what it must be like to write like this. What did his first draft look like?

Reading it, however, was like eating an entire chocolate cake. It's delicious but there's something sickening about it. show more You think you want more but in the background you're nauseated. You've had too much and it starts to taste peculiar in an undefinable way. You understand the meaning of the phrase "too much of a good thing." But it doesn't stop there. Not even for a brief rest.

And then sometimes you're completely lost. What does it mean? It seems to mean something but maybe you just don't get it. There are contradictions but the opposite of a profound truth is another profound truth (I just googled and that's a misquote of Niels Bohr) and besides, didn't he say not to worry about consistency? Or only worry if it's foolish. And then you feel foolish. But then you don't because of what you just read and what you feel is that you were foolish before you read it. But also you weren't because he was just saying what you and everyone else already knew in their (shared) soul only they might not have known they knew it which is why he had to say it.

And that's why you have to say it to. Not what he said but what you know to be true and thus everyone else does too but you need to remind them. But what was it again? And is it really true? If you are doubting it, then like Descartes, you exist. What's it like to exist? And why do I need to ask you? show less

"Our day of dependence, our long apprenticeship to the learning of other lands, draws to a close." (pg. 83)

Dense and abstract, Ralph Waldo Emerson's Selected Essays often become something of a trial for the modern reader. Part essayist and part philosopher, the delivery of his sermons on nature, fate, history, art and academia require endurance, and while this is in part a mark against the modern reader, used to shorter and more manageable chucks of information delivery, it also speaks to show more the lofty and (in the best possible sense) indulgent nature of Emerson's prose. The fact that many of these essays were in fact (or were at first) lectures, helps mitigate against this, as Emerson's conversational tone ensures the reader doesn't get too bogged down, but the book does require fortitude. While by no means stale, the work of Emerson is at least possessing of a hard crust.

Once that crust is broken through, the ideas inside are nourishing. Oliver Wendell Holmes, quoted in the introduction to my Penguin Classics edition, named Emerson's essays as the United States' "intellectual declaration of independence" (pg. 16), the moment when it no longer sought to borrow so heavily from its European cultural inheritance but looked inward and tackled its own being on its own terms. Emerson dwells at that nexus of Old World and New that has always made America so fascinating and conflicted, and his vibrant advocacy and discussion of individualism and Man using his conscious will to align with the vast continental landscape have echoed in the American self-image ever since.

For all his dated prosing, Emerson can really deliver a ringing line when he wants to, and 'Man the Reformer' in particular speaks to our own time, his warning of our moral dependency on flawed and compromised articles long unheeded. But above all, the fundamental influence of Emerson's ideas on American letters makes him an essential read for anyone serious about appreciating the country's literary and intellectual development. The most famous and important of the man's essays are collected here in Selected Essays, and the book is a good choice if you wish to pay Emerson his dues. show less

Emerson's classic essays on "spiritual potential" and "self-reliance" can inspire
readers toward their own unique paths of self discovery.

He moves his audiences away from conformity, greed, and the pursuit of money
to seek peace, love, and beauty in nature and a soul.

('Waxing eloquent' was surely invented to describe his lengthy paragraphs.)

He did surprise me with "Experience." It is fairly bewildering, dense, and depressing:
"It is very unhappy, but too late to be helped, the discovery we have show more made that we exist."

It would be welcome to learn what life experiences influenced this enigmatic change. show less

A wonderful way to read Emerson (excerpts), as his essays/lectures can be a little daunting. The editor did a good job of including enough in each passage to give voice to Emerson's insight. Mostly, I discovered how much I see things differently than Emerson, but respect him nonetheless. Not least of all, for beautiful reflections such as this:

This disappointment is felt in every landscape. I have seen the softness and beauty of the summer clouds floating overhead, enjoying, as it seemed, show more their height and privilege of motion, whilst yet they appeared not so much the drapery of this place and hour, as forelooking to some pavilions and gardens of festivity beyond. It is an odd jealousy: but the poet finds himself not near enough to his object. show less