The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson

by Ralph Waldo Emerson

This collection contains 200 + of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s work, including essays, addresses, lectures, and poetry! It is formatted for optimal viewing on the Nook and is equipped with an active table of contents for smooth navigation! The collection includes:

ESSAYS, which contains:
I. HISTORY.
II. SELF-RELIANCE.
III. COMPENSATION.
IV. SPIRITUAL LAWS.
V. LOVE.
VI. FRIENDSHIP.
VII. PRUDENCE.
VIII. HEROISM.
IX. THE OVER-SOUL.
X. CIRCLES.
XI. INTELLECT.
XII. ART.
XIII. THE POET.
XIV. EXPERIENCE.
XV. CHARACTER.
XVI. MANNERS.
XVII. GIFTS.
XVIII. NATURE.
XIX. POLITICS.
XX. NONIMALIST AND REALIST.
XXI. NEW ENGLAND REFORMERS.

NATURE

ADDRESSES AND LECTURES, containing:
I. THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR
II. DIVINITY SCHOOL ADDRESS
III. LITERARY ETHICS
IV. THE METHOD OF NATURE
V. MAN THE REFORMER
VI. INTRODUCTORY LECTURE ON THE TIMES
VII. THE CONSERVATIVE
VIII. THE TRANSCENDENTALIST
IX. THE YOUNG AMERICAN

REPRESENTATIVE MEN, containing:
I. USES OF GREAT MEN.
II. PLATO; OR, THE PHILOSOPHER.
III. SWEDENBORG; OR, THE MYSTIC.
IV. MONTAIGNE; OR, THE SKEPTIC.
V. SHAKSPEARE; OR, THE POET.
VI. NAPOLEON; OR, THE MAN OF THE WORLD.
VII. GOETHE; OR, THE WRITER

ENGLISH TRAITS

CONDUCT OF LIFE

SOCIETY AND SOLITUDE

MISCELLANIES
I. THE LORD'S SUPPER
II. HISTORICAL DISCOURSE AT CONCORD
III. LETTER TO PRESIDENT VAN BUREN
IV. EMANCIPATION IN THE BRITISH WEST INDIES
V. WAR
VI. THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW
VIII. THE ASSAULT UPON MR. SUMMER
IX. SPEECH ON AFFAIRS IN KANSAS
X. JOHN BROWN — SPEECH AT BOSTON
XI. JOHN BROWN — SPEECH AT SALEM
XII. THEODORE PARKER
XIII. AMERICAN CIVILISATION
XIV. THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION
XV. ABRAHAM LINCOLN
XVI. HARVARD COMMEMORATION SPEECH
XVII. DEDICATION OF THE SOLDIERS' MONUMENT IN CONCORD ADDRESS
XVIII. EDITORS' ADDRESS
XIX. ADDRESS TO KOSSUTH
XX. WOMAN
XXI. CONSECRATION OF SLEEPY HOLLOW CEMETARY
XXII. ROBERT BURNS
XXIII. SHAKESPEARE
XXIV. HUMBOLDT
XXV. WALTER SCOTT
XXVI. SPEECH AT BANQUET IN HONOUR OF CHINESE EMBASSY
XXVII. REMARKS AT ORGANISATION OF FREE RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATION
XXVIII. SPEECH AT SECOND ANNUAL MEETING OF FREE RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATION
XXIX. ADDRESS AT OPENING OF CONCORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY
XXX. THE FORTUNE OF THE REPUBLIC

POEMS, which contains the following poetry collections with more than 200 poems:
POEMS
MAY-DAY AND OTHER PIECES
ELEMENTS AND MOTTOES
QUATRAINS AND TRANSLATIONS
TRANSLATIONS
FRAGMENTS ON NATURE AND LIFE
POEMS OF YOUTH AND EARLY MANHOOD

THE CORRESPONDENCE OF THOMAS CARLYLE AND RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Genres: Philosophy, Classics, Poetry, Nonfiction, Essays, Own, Literature

Hardcover

First published August 22, 2015

About the author

Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in Boston in 1803. Educated at Harvard and the Cambridge Divinity School, he became a Unitarian minister in 1826 at the Second Church Unitarian. The congregation, with Christian overtones, issued communion, something Emerson refused to do. "Really, it is beyond my comprehension," Emerson once said, when asked by a seminary professor whether he believed in God. (Quoted in 2,000 Years of Freethought edited by Jim Haught.) By 1832, after the untimely death of his first wife, Emerson cut loose from Unitarianism. During a year-long trip to Europe, Emerson became acquainted with such intelligentsia as British writer Thomas Carlyle, and poets Wordsworth and Coleridge. He returned to the United States in 1833, to a life as poet, writer and lecturer. Emerson inspired Transcendentalism, although never adopting the label himself. He rejected traditional ideas of deity in favor of an "Over-Soul" or "Form of Good," ideas which were considered highly heretical. His books include Nature (1836), The American Scholar (1837), Divinity School Address (1838), Essays, 2 vol. (1841, 1844), Nature, Addresses and Lectures (1849), and three volumes of poetry. Margaret Fuller became one of his "disciples," as did Henry David Thoreau.

The best of Emerson's rather wordy writing survives as epigrams, such as the famous: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." Other one- (and two-) liners include: "As men's prayers are a disease of the will, so are their creeds a disease of the intellect" (Self-Reliance, 1841). "The most tedious of all discourses are on the subject of the Supreme Being" (Journal, 1836). "The word miracle, as pronounced by Christian churches, gives a false impression; it is a monster. It is not one with the blowing clover and the falling rain" (Address to Harvard Divinity College, July 15, 1838). He demolished the right wing hypocrites of his era in his essay "Worship": ". . . the louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons" (Conduct of Life, 1860). "I hate this shallow Americanism which hopes to get rich by credit, to get knowledge by raps on midnight tables, to learn the economy of the mind by phrenology, or skill without study, or mastery without apprenticeship" (Self-Reliance). "The first and last lesson of religion is, 'The things that are seen are temporal; the things that are not seen are eternal.' It puts an affront upon nature" (English Traits , 1856). "The god of the cannibals will be a cannibal, of the crusaders a crusader, and of the merchants a merchant." (Civilization, 1862). He influenced generations of Americans, from his friend Henry David Thoreau to John Dewey, and in Europe, Friedrich Nietzsche, who takes up such Emersonian themes as power, fate, the uses of poetry and history, and the critique of Christianity. D. 1882.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was his son and Waldo Emerson Forbes, his grandson.

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

1,700 plus pages of Emerson over more than a month. Where to begin? I think it best to evaluate Emerson by using his own ideas to aid in the critique. Emerson said of books: “We are too civil to books. For a few golden sentences we will turn over and actually read a volume of four or five hundred pages.” At times I felt this with Emerson. There were times that he was tedious, but with Emerson, those few golden sentences make up for many pages of long-winded erudition. Some essays flow so naturally and so engage the reader. Others seemed somewhat antiquated.

In his essay on books, Emerson offers three “practical rules” for readers:

1. Never read any book that is not a year old. (Check).
2. Never read any but famed books. (Check).
3. Never read any but what you like; or, in Shakespeare’s phrase, ‘No profit goes where is no pleasure ta’en; In brief, Sir, study what you most affect.’ (Check).

Perhaps I was too civil to Emerson to spend so much time with him, but I feel the time was well worth it. He was an intelligent and thought-provoking houseguest, a bit pedantic at times, long-winded and sometimes churlish in the presentation of his ideas, but a generous and engaging guest, nonetheless.

All that said, a few general observations of my own:

1)While there were some very worthwhile essays contained in this work, many were in the first part of this 4 volume series, the only one of the 4 volumes that I had previously read. Among those essays contained here are his essay on history, which opens this volume, and where he clearly lays out much of his philosophy; this is followed by his essay on self-reliance, also one of the best of Emerson’s essays; “Circles;” “Intellect,” and “Nominalist and Realist.” In Volume 2, some of his essays on Representative Men are certainly worth reading more than once: the opening essay titled “Uses of Great Men” and his writings on Plato, Shakespeare and Napoleon. His take on The Lord’s Supper and the (perceived) misunderstanding among Christians about the sacrament of Eucharist was a piece that I would not have picked to read if it were not part of this collection, but I found his arguments intriguing (perhaps because I was raised in a Catholic family, attending Catholic schools throughout all of my youth). In his essays on the Conduct of Life, I was greatly interested in his essays on behavior, worship and, more than any other here, the essay entitled, “Considerations by the Way.” Among my favorites in Volume 3 were the essays on fate and books and the piece on Thoreau – a great influence on Emerson and vice versa.

2)I had a difficult time getting through Emerson’s poetry. He is a master of form, but it is hard to feel his poetry – he lacks the "poet’s soul." This isn’t to suggest that his verse is bad; structurally, as least, some of it is very impressive. His free verse is quite good. His rhymed verse seems at times a bit strained. For me, Emerson is a much better essayist than a poet.

3)Of like-minded men of his generation, while there is much to love about Emerson, I much prefer Whitman and Thoreau. Emerson’s arguments and ideas are clear and well-presented, but, as stated earlier, he lacks the soul of the poet. He preaches a great deal about freedom and the “importance of the individual,” but he seems more tightly bound by the customs of his day than either of these two contemporaries, though they were very much free and wild souls for their times. Emerson, too, but I feel Whitman and Thoreau are giants in his presence (he a giant in the presence of others).

4) Not unlike Whitman, Emerson often contradicts himself in his writings, even in essays not very far removed from one another in terms of time. This, to me, is not a weakness, however – it simply adds to his depth.

5)Some of Emerson’s allusions are undoubtedly obscure to the modern reader – more notes could have been helpful in this regard. These days, though, praise be to Google! In a recent article I read in New York magazine, longtime New Republic literary editor, Leon Wieseltier (I cannot believe I’m quoting him) said, “In the old days, I used to get shit from certain people about difficult words or references. The irony now is that I just smile and say, ‘Google it.’ I have no conscience about that anymore.” I think in this regard Emerson might just say the same, more or less.

A great influence on writers and thinkers from Whitman and Thoreau to Dewey and Nietzsche, and countless others, Emerson deserves to be read, and today more than ever, when conformity seems too often to take precedent over self-reliance (it is easier, after all). Some essays deserve to be reread occasionally. Others need be read only once, if at all.

“What is the hardest task in the world?” Emerson asks. “To think.” Emerson gives us plenty to think about long after each encounter with him. Like the great men he glorifies in his writings, Emerson has (along with others in his school – Thoreau and Whitman, especially), in a sense become a great man, and, likewise, an American institution.

[grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

my 19th century boyfriend

[Sunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite philosophers of all time. Nothing more to say. I read this in 2004 aged 26 - was so philosophically influenced by his works as the subsequent years have shown :) Here are the best bits:

Though thou loved her as thyself,
As a self of purer clay,
Though her parting dims the day,
Stealing grace from all alive;
Heartily know, when half-gods go,
The gods arrive.

If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown!

Underneath the inharmonious and trivial particularities is a musical perfection.

There is no object so fair that intense light will not make beautiful.

"What have I to do with the sacredness of traditions, if I live wholly from within?" My friend suggested—"But these impulses may be from below, not from above."

Do you see that kitten chasing so prettily her own tail? If you could look with her eyes you might see her surrounded with hundreds of figures performing complex dramas, with tragic and comic issues, long conversations, many characters, many ups and downs of fate, and meantime it is only puss and her tail. How long before our masquerade will end its noise of tambourines, laughter and shouting, and we shall find it was a solitary performance?

Dream delivers us to dream, and there is no end to illusion. Life is a train of moods like a string of beads, and as we pass through them they prove to be many-colored lenses which paint the world their own hue, and each shows only what lies in its focus.

One fine night, on deck, amid a clatter of materialism, Bonaparte pointed to the stars, and said, "You may talk as long as you please, gentlemen, but who made all that?"

Of what use is genius if the organ is too convex or too concave and cannot find a focal distance within the actual horizon of human life?

From within or from behind a light shines through us upon things and makes us aware that we are nothing, but the light is all.

I was as a gem concealed: me my burning ray revealed.

Keep the town for occasions, but the habits should be formed to retirement. Solitude, the safeguard of mediocrity, is, to genius, the stern friend, the cold, obscure shelter where moult the wings which will bear it farther than suns and stars. He who should inspire and lead his race must be defended from travelling with the souls of other men, from living, breathing, reading and writing in the daily, time-worn yoke of their opinions.

"In the morning—solitude," said Pythagoras, "that nature may speak to the imagination, as she does never in company."

Every word was once a poem.

The love of beauty is mainly the love of measure or proportion. The person who screams, or uses the superlative degree, or converses with heat, puts whole drawing-rooms to flight. If you wish to be loved, love measure.

"The drop is a small ocean." "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." "We live amid surfaces, and the true art of life is to skate well on them." "Sleep lingers all our lifetime about the eyes, as night hovers all day in the boughs of the fir tree." "The soul makes the body." "Prayer is the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view."

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.

Character teaches above our wills. Men imagine that they communicate their virtue or vice only by overt actions, and do not see that virtue or vice emit a breath every moment.

Live no longer to the expectation of these deceived and deceiving people with whom we converse. Say to them, "O father, O mother, O wife, O brother, O friend, I have lived with you after appearances hitherto. Henceforward I am the truth’s. Be it known unto you that henceforward I obey no law less than the eternal law."

To fill the hour—that is happiness; to fill the hour and leave no crevice for a repentance or an approval. We live amid surfaces, and the true art of life is to skate well on them. Under the oldest, mouldiest conventions a man of native force prospers just as well as in the newest world, and that by skill of handling and treatment. He can take hold anywhere. Life itself is a mixture of power and form, and will not bear the least excess of either. To finish the moment, to find the journey's end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom. It is not the part of men, but of fanatics—or of mathematicians, if you will—to say that, the shortness of life considered, it is not worth caring whether for so short a duration we were sprawling in want or sitting high. Since our office is with moments, let us husband them.

The English came mainly from the Germans whom the Romans found hard to conquer in 210 years.

On the English: In short, every one of these islanders is an island himself, safe, tranquil, incommunicable. In a company of strangers you would think him deaf; his eyes never wander from his table and newspaper.

Travelling is a fool’s paradise. Our first journey discovers to us the indifference of places.

All men plume themselves on the improvement of society, and no man improves.

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.

We will meet as though we met not, and part as though we parted not.

Men are in some degree impressed by the face of the world; some men even to delight. This love of beauty is Taste. Others have the same love in such excess, that, not content with admiring, they seek to embody it in new forms. The creation of beauty is Art.

To believe your own thought, to believe what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men: that is genius.

But truth is handsomer than the affectation of love. Your goodness must have some edge to it, else it is none. The doctrine of hatred must be preached, as the counteraction of the doctrine of love, when that pules and whines. I shun father and mother and wife and brother when my genius calls me.

Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and told them that, as he had washed their feet, they ought to wash one another's feet; for he had given them an example, that they should do as he had done to them. I ask any person who believes the Supper to have been designed by Jesus to be commemorated forever, to go and read the account of it in the other Gospels, and then compare with it the account of this transaction in St. John, and tell me if this be not much more explicitly authorized than the Supper.

"A man," said Oliver Cromwell, "never rises so high as when he knows not whither he is going." Dreams and drunkenness, the use of opium and alcohol, are the semblance and counterfeit of this oracular genius, and hence their dangerous attraction for men.

You have first an instinct, then an opinion, then a knowledge, as the plant has root, bud and fruit. Trust the instinct to the end, though you can render no reason. It is vain to hurry it. By trusting it to the end, it shall ripen into truth and you shall know why you believe.

In love, in art, in avarice, in politics, in labor, in games, we study to utter our painful secret. The man is only half himself; the other half is his expression.

"Great men," said Aristotle, "are always of a nature originally melancholy."

’Tis the habit of a mind which attaches to abstractions with a passion which gives vast results. They dare to displease; they do not speak to expectation. They like the sayers of No better than the sayers of Yes.

Life is our dictionary. Years are well spent in country labors; in town; in the insight into trades and manufactures; in frank intercourse with many men and women; in science; in art; to the one end of mastering in all their facts a language by which to illustrate and embody our perceptions. I learn immediately from any speaker how much he has already lived, through the poverty or the splendor of his speech. Life lies behind us as the quarry from whence we get tiles and copestones for the masonry of today.

Every book is a quotation; and every house is a quotation out of all forests and mines and stone quarries; and every man is a quotation from all his ancestors.

Fear always springs from ignorance. It is a shame to him if his tranquillity, amid dangerous times, arises from the presumption that, like children and women, his is a protected class.

To the poet, to the philosopher, to the saint, all things are friendly and sacred, all events profitable, all days holy, all men divine. For the eye is fastened on the life, and slights the circumstance.

Heroism feels and never reasons, and therefore is always right.

[Tyler Windham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a premier literary, philosophical, and artistic figure of mid nineteenth century America. Thoreau was his disciple, Whitman an after thought syncretizing Emerson and the democratic ethos, and many of his romantic contemporaries were mere thematic imitation. Emerson's essays and poems brought together transcendentalism, romantic naturalism, ardent individualism, and determined refusal to surrender to the monochromatic herds of unthinking conformism. Emerson was a great essayist, an important intellectual, and a renown poet and his works are a must read (at least in part) even if his ideas are not ubiquitously attractive.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The complete works of Emerson. I enjoyed reading about his life and stories. I recommend it to any Emerson fan.

[Joe Molenaar · Rating 1 out of 5]

this sOME bullshit like GOD reINCARNATING and BEATING his SoN !!!!!!!!

[Sean Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Transcendent and natural philosophy, optimistic, but in a seemingly rational way.