Comparing The Writings Of John Emerson And Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself,” says essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. I believe this quote means that contagious happiness spreads through everyone, including yourself. For example, whenever I watch movies with my family, not only do I receive the benefit of watching a new movie, but I also spend time with my family. For one of my friend’s birthday, we volunteered at the Oregon Food Bank, and I have never experienced volunteering at a food bank before knowing I shared my time to care for the other people in my community. If someone volunteers to do special deeds for their community, such as asking a friend or a neighbor if they need help with their groceries, or even volunteering

"In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, - no disgrace, no calamity (leaving me my eyes), which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, - my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space, - all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball. I am nothing. I see all. The currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God."

Transcendentalism was an age of revolution. Not only did this age bring about changes in literature, but it brought about reform in ideals, religion, and people. Movements were all the rage---with abolitionism, feminism, sectarianism, communitarianism, and temperance beginning to flourish. With shifting ideals, literature evolved. Perhaps one of the best known authors of the transcendentalism period would be Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson acted as a mentor to many individuals, with his infamous Divinity School Address. However, one author in particular Emerson guided by introducing her to Goethe and encouraging her to borrow books, and that author would be Louisa May Alcott. Being from the same literary time period, Louisa May Alcott and Ralph Waldo Emerson have similar affinities displaying Transcendentalist ideals in their professional works.

Influenced by the era of romanticism, transcendentalism teaches that divinity can be found throughout nature and humanity. The focus is on self; self reliance; and independence. Romantic authors, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, were strong influencers for these beliefs. Emerson once said, “A man in debt is so far a slave.” The wants of man are an insatiable desire. People are practically enslaved to debt as if they let it lead their lives, which is an extremely common lifestyle in today’s society. Ralph Waldo Emerson uses “Nature” and “Self-Reliance” to give an insight on transcendental beliefs, while Jon Krakauer uses Into the Wild to portray Chris McCandless as a contemporary hero through those beliefs.

Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are definitely two of the most influential writers in the 19th century. Thoreau was born in Concord, and Emerson in Boston. They both attended Harvard; Thoreau decided to pursue the career of teaching because of his brothers, while Emerson decided to become a Unitarian minister just like his father. These two writers lived during the transcendentalism period and both of them used this philosophy as way of living their lives to its fullest. Despite the fact that these two prominent figures of the transcendentalism share some of the same thoughts such as nature, simplicity and individualism, because of the time Emerson spent as Thoreau´s mentor. In Thoreau´s book Walden (1854), we can see that he criticizes the government for being responsible for promoting social conformity among the citizens, while in Emerson´s book Self-Reliance (1841) we can see that he is trying to teach a lesson for the readers about how the self does not need to follow the patterns of the society to be happy.

ake Home Essay: Emerson and Thoreau Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Thoreau both used strong sunrise imagery to effectively express their ideas of transcendentalism. Emerson wants it to be known that one should not rely on tradition, rather live in the present moment. Thoreau expresses the idea of awakening the self by spiritual means rather than relying on physical forces to understand one’s own existence in the surrounding nature. Emerson’s main focus is individuality. He wants human beings to feel connected to their inner and outer selves to experience spirit and nature.

Although self-denial is a time-honored discipline and tenant of most religions, one cannot achieve the realization of their oneness with the infinite Spirit of Life by way of it. A spiritual pilgrim on the path of self-denial, does not arrive at a greater realization of the Divine because at each step along the way he denies himself the sense of oneness with God that is inherent in the realization he seeks. Even if Jesus Christ said to him, "Behold, the kingdom of God is within you", that person would reject this insight, and continue on his quest. On the other hand, a wise pilgrim would, as R. W. Emerson suggested, endeavor to find the journey's end at every step along the way. And, even though Emerson advised us to get our "bloated nothingness" out of the way of the divine circuits, he was not telling us to get our self out of the way. One's beliefs, self-concepts, and opinions may be pompous nonsense that amounts to nothing; nevertheless, we are not our thoughts, but something greater. Let us take care that we do not confuse nothing with something, for when we do, we tend to reject something of value and end up with nothing. And similarly, let us not confuse acceptance with forgiveness, for when we do, we end up accepting that which should rather be forgiven, forgotten, and thus, out of the way.

Ralph Waldo Emerson says “There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide.” This quote is immensely true you should always be true to yourself and you shouldn’t envy people you don’t really know that much about.

Over the course of his life, Ralph Waldo Emerson believed in many ideals pertaining to human life and

Emerson's philosophical thinking reflects a Utilitarian approach to self-awareness in his writing called essays and Lectures. He writes “Who in the midst of a crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude" (Emerson, 263). The crowd in this quote is representative of all that is around us.

Everyone has their own personal values and opinions about how we should live our lives. Religions, the way we dress, the way we talk, and the way we act are all examples of this. Living in a society where we are ultimately able to do anything we wish, leaves us wondering and wanting to learn more about what we are capable of and how we can achieve greatness.

While both Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were effective in each of their individual writings, Emerson was extremely successful in conveying what it really meant to be the American individual. Emerson’s argumentive works in “Nature” and “Self-Reliance” more clearly exudes the concept of American individuality than Henry David Thoreau’s works in “Civil Disobedience” and Walden. Ralph Waldo Emerson more successfully gave Americans of the early 19th century an idea of what it really meant to be an American individual. Ralph Waldo Emerson shows what it really means to be an American individual in his works “Nature” and “Self-Reliance”. In the essay “Nature” Emerson states that in order for a man to achieve true solitude

Ralph Emerson helps scholars realize that reading a book just to read a book does not help a person’s understanding of that book. Instead, a scholar should ask questions about the piece of writing they read. I apply this concept to everyday life. Since, I started college last fall I have learn how to engage in my reading and ask question, so I can understand the writing. Ralph Emerson says that “bookworms” do not engage in their reading. When I engage in my reading it helps me understand and it helps me develop new ideas, goals that I want to achieve in college.

There was a time when looking for knowledge we searched the streets and we searched the skies. We did not search in our pockets for our phones. Now, the streets are empty and the skies bear nothing we can see. No one is looking up at the sky, they are looking down searching through their phone’s for the answers untold. Our phones, these wondrous pieces of technology are taking grasp of our minds, dulling our thoughts and our senses.Yet, if we just took the time to look up at the sky once in awhile, we would see the knowledge it holds. The only thing that can tilt our heads upward is nature. Nature is so beautiful and holds so many answers. This is what Ralph Waldo Emerson was trying to tell us. This is why with the help of Emerson and his alike

“To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men- that is genius.” is in itself a truly contradicting and false statement. This quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson is saying how if you believe something is right, that it is right for all men. So what about the rest of the world? Do they all agree with everything? And what if another man who also believes his thoughts that clash with the first one thoughts? Not both can be right and having a personal automatically assuming that they are right at all times is just flat out hard headed, not genius. That is why I disagree with Emerson’s quote.