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Essays: First and Second Series
As an adolescent America searched for its unique identity among the nations of the world, a number of thinkers and writers emerged eager to share their vision of what the American character could be. Among their leaders was Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose essays, lectures, and poems defined the American transcendentalist movement, though he himself disliked the term.
Emerson ad...more
Emerson ad...more
Paperback, 432 pages
Published
February 19th 1990
by Vintage
(first published 1856)
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Emerson, for whom my eldest son is named, had a profound effect on me as a teenager. His essays were the first piece of "serious" literature I undertook to read for personal education around age 16. Though I can't say I wholly subscribe to them these days, his ideas on individualist spirituality resonated with me, coming from a Christian family which encouraged self-discovery--with the caveat that your discoveries were orthodox. For someone as intellectually curious as I am, this environment led...more
great works are timeless. sometimes the right book finds you at the right time and makes everything ok.
7 likes · like · see review
My Bible.
2 likes · like · see review
Emerson, oh so wise:
A chief event of life is the day in which we have encountered a mind that startled us.
A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.
A great man is always willing to be little.
A man is what he thinks about all day long.
All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way.
Before we acquire great power we must acquire wisdom to use it well.
Character is higher than intellect. A...more
A chief event of life is the day in which we have encountered a mind that startled us.
A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.
A great man is always willing to be little.
A man is what he thinks about all day long.
All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way.
Before we acquire great power we must acquire wisdom to use it well.
Character is higher than intellect. A...more
People don't really change. The issues of personal responsibility were the same in Emerson's time as they are now, and his words apply equally well to our day as they did to his.
While this is slow-going because the language is more difficult than a novel, there are many gems of insight into the human condition that I enjoyed. In its 19th-century way, it is also a call for personal growth and self-improvement in order to be a better member of society. I liked it.
While this is slow-going because the language is more difficult than a novel, there are many gems of insight into the human condition that I enjoyed. In its 19th-century way, it is also a call for personal growth and self-improvement in order to be a better member of society. I liked it.
My mother gave me her copy of this a few years ago. Finally picked it up at just the right time, and holy crap is this good. Some of it I didn't get or had a hard time with the language or just didn't feel like reading about the particular essay topic that day. Most was just clear as a bell and rich with meaning and insight. I can't do justice to it and his gift to us with these essays in this pithy little review.
1 like · like · see review
I love Emerson. I love these cheap Barnes and Noble paperbacks too. I keep a nice hardcover to be shelved and read from time to time and I keep this one to highlight, underline, dog-ear, etc. etc. This book which has filled a segment of my mind and which now bears the marks and wear of my mind, feels as though it is a part of my mind.
This is astounding. There is a reason why Emerson's words show up on everything from bookmarks to refridgerator magnets. They're pristine and profound. Some of these essays will stay with you long after you read them, as they reach far into your head and heart and demand you to be honest with yourself. The poetry is a little less, but still far reaching.
This is astounding. There is a reason why Emerson's words show up on everything from bookmarks to refridgerator magnets. They're pristine and pr...more
This is astounding. There is a reason why Emerson's words show up on everything from bookmarks to refridgerator magnets. They're pristine and pr...more
Mar 29, 2008
Heidi
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
school-books-i-liked,
favorites
If you haven't read one of the following, you aren't fit to be an American.
"The American Scholar"
"Divinity School Address"
"Nature"
"Self-Reliance"
I'll stick to that.
"The American Scholar"
"Divinity School Address"
"Nature"
"Self-Reliance"
I'll stick to that.
I first read Emerson in an American Literature course and immediately fell in love. I'm a big fan of nature so the transcendentalist view attracted my attention. Emerson uses very intense vocabulary and sentence structure, but once you spend the time to read things slowly you can decipher so much meaning in his writing. His work is an example of how I hope to write in the future, full of knowledge, experience and eloquence. He gave me an entire new appreciation for nature, making me reconsider e...more
While these essays definitely take a bit of effort to read, they are well worth it. I read this on and off over a period of a year or so. I appreciated that it was easy to pick up, read an essay, and then come back to it later when I had the time. There were so many wonderful bits of knowledge and deep insights included in this book. I found myself constantly underlining things I read and thinking about the ideas throughout the day. Emerson is one of the few 'classic' writers that deserves the l...more
Emerson teaches me something new every time I read him.
Aug 17, 2007
Stacy Parrish
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Those who strive for peace
Shelves:
oldfavorites
I love Emerson. Someday I will move to my own Walden Pond.
1 like · like · see review
Aug 03, 2009
Lesliemae
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Those desiring inspiration to carry on - up again, old heart!
Recommended to Lesliemae by:
Michael Boughn
Shelves:
course-list-favourites
From Self-Reliance:
"There is one mind common among all men."
"I would write on the lintels of my doorpost: Whim."
"No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature"
--------------
May 2009 inscription:
I fell for **** this month and have constructed an entire imaginary future - is this wrong to entertain? Frustrating, yes, but wrong? I look at @@@ and know I really do like being with him, but want **** too.
August 2009 inscription:
**** and I went on a scooter trip on Friday to start the perfect long...more
"There is one mind common among all men."
"I would write on the lintels of my doorpost: Whim."
"No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature"
--------------
May 2009 inscription:
I fell for **** this month and have constructed an entire imaginary future - is this wrong to entertain? Frustrating, yes, but wrong? I look at @@@ and know I really do like being with him, but want **** too.
August 2009 inscription:
**** and I went on a scooter trip on Friday to start the perfect long...more
I would like to preface this review by saying that the body of the review has a lot "spiritual" talk and some people may find my words trite and very syrupy about my inner thoughts on life. So if you are feeling cynical right now, I think you will have a good chuckle. And, if you are like me, someone who always is searching, then maybe you will relate.
Growing up I've always been hopscotching from book to book looking for the tome that could lead my life. When I was 10 or 11 I began pulling the b...more
Growing up I've always been hopscotching from book to book looking for the tome that could lead my life. When I was 10 or 11 I began pulling the b...more
I've read most of these, on and off, throughout middle school and high school. Even as a kid I was always of a mind for self-improvement, and with essays on topics such as "Self-Reliance" "Friendship" and "Experience" how could I resist the idea that maybe some great thinker had pondered out some of my problems before, and written out his musings for me to read and synthesize into my own developing personality? The scary thing is, I hardly remember these essays. I should probably read at least t...more
What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great mean is he who, in the midst of the crowd, keeps with perfect sweet...more
Emerson was a spineless opportunist who took ideas from everyone with whom he was ever in contact. His verse is uninspiring and his prose is convoluted...While I don't deny his ideas were crucial in the shaping of the American identity, I believe the Emersonian tradition of self-reliance contributed to the capitalist nightmare we have to deal with today. Also, his ideas about feminism are upsetting: he only seemed to be concerned with how women on equal footing with men would be beneficial for m...more
If RW were alive today, he'd be a bestselling self-help guru. This book is fantastic. There are some lesser known essays in this book that are excellent. One such essay is called "Illusions."
Self-reliance is a classic essay as is Nature. Power is very interesting as well.
I'm not much for Ralph's poetry but he sure could write an amazing essay!
Self-reliance is a classic essay as is Nature. Power is very interesting as well.
I'm not much for Ralph's poetry but he sure could write an amazing essay!
e-book edition which contains both first series & second series.
This was very dense prose. It didn't flow very well and it was easy to lose track of the points he was trying to make.
But ...
I bookmarked on my electronic copy many interesting things he had to say. Just one example ...
"... the poet is the Namer or Language-maker, naming things sometimes after their appearance, sometimes after their essence ... The poets made all the words ... For though the origin of most of our words is forgot...more
This was very dense prose. It didn't flow very well and it was easy to lose track of the points he was trying to make.
But ...
I bookmarked on my electronic copy many interesting things he had to say. Just one example ...
"... the poet is the Namer or Language-maker, naming things sometimes after their appearance, sometimes after their essence ... The poets made all the words ... For though the origin of most of our words is forgot...more
Every once in a while we stumble upon a book which we are almost ashamed of not liking. This is the case for me.
I just did not like it. I was basically forcing myself to read every essay without skipping. It was so tedious and I just really didn't care what he has to say. There were a few quotes that I thought were beautiful, but those were maybe 2-3 in the whole book. Other than that I found it very hard to read and I really didn't care for his ideas and thoughts on those topics. Not even his f...more
I just did not like it. I was basically forcing myself to read every essay without skipping. It was so tedious and I just really didn't care what he has to say. There were a few quotes that I thought were beautiful, but those were maybe 2-3 in the whole book. Other than that I found it very hard to read and I really didn't care for his ideas and thoughts on those topics. Not even his f...more
I've read several essays already, and I must admit, he is quite a form of genius. "Nature", being the longest, is one of the most thought-provoking of all of them.
An excellent collection of Emerson's works. He is my favorite author and has inspired me to live a better, fuller, wiser, and more meaningful life.
A book I will probably always be reading. It's full of such great wisdom that to say," I'm done," with this work would be a travesty.
Ralph Waldo Emerson is the most brilliant philosopher that has ever lived. His writing is poetic!
Emerson's writings are clear and, like fellow transcendentalist/naturalist Henry David Thoreau, chock full of wisdom.
Not a HUGE transcendentalist fan, but he didn't get so famous for nothing.
A fantastic collection of Emerson's works.
Sad, but I don't think I get Emerson.
Essential heroic prose.
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Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early nineteenth century.
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200 people liked it
“What I must do is all that concerns me, not what people think. This rule,equally arduous in actual and intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”
—
84 people liked it
More quotes…
Dave: I think I have a pretty deep understanding of what truly being a follower of Jesus means and I do not want to live (and wha...more
Dec 13, 2008 04:14pm
Dec 13, 2008 06:02pm