It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Ralph Waldo Emerson was a linchpin of the American Romantic Movement. An essayist, lecturer and poet, Emerson led the transcendentalist movement of the 19th century and gave American literature its new highs. He was a champion of individualism and a critic of the countervailing pressures of the society. Interestingly, Emerson too was bowed down by the religious and social beliefs of his contemporaries but he soon drifted away from it, formulating the philosophy of transcendentalism. Interestingly, much of Emerson’s works today are actually revised version of his lectures. He has to his credit more than 1500 public lectures and a dozen of published essays. His first two collections of essays, ‘Essays: First Series’ and ‘Essays: Second Series’ represent the core of his thinking. They include some of his well-known works such as ‘Self-Reliance’, ‘The Over-Soul’, ‘The Poet’ and ‘Experience’ and ‘Nature’. Emerson’s philosophies and beliefs can also be seen in his quotes that touch various aspects of life and living. They are inspirational and motivating and give a new outlook to things and situation. Go through this section and brief yourself with some of the quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.
