Ralph Waldo Emerson: 187 books

A town that had a man for breakfast every morning. That's how Tombstone, Arizona was described in the late-1800s, bolstering the myth that a corpse would be found cooling in the town's dusty streets each sunrise. The reality was quite different and much less violent, of course, but that hasn't...

SELF RELIANCE is Emerson's famous work where he argues the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency, and follow his or her own instincts and ideas. He was seen as a champion of individualism and critic of the prevailing pressures of society. 

Together in one volume, Emerson's Nature and Thoreau's Walking, is writing that defines our distinctly American relationship to nature.

Emerson’s discourse on “the laws of compensation”, takes on the notion that one who has money must be wicked and those who do not must be good, among other topics. It appeared in his book “Essays”, first published in 1841.

Emerson’s treatise on the nature of friendship. ”The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one.

Building on and enriching ideas set forth in “Self-Reliance”, Emerson argues that true heroism is self-confidence and persistency in the face of corrosive pressures to conform to society.

Excerpt from Emerson's Essay on Compensation These thoughts on government, religion, and art alike, are colored by democracy. The exclusive in fashionable life does not see that he excludes himself from enjoyment, in the attempt to appropriate it. The exclusionist in religion does not see that he...

Excerpt from Emerson's Essay on Compensation These thoughts on government, religion, and art alike, are colored by democracy. The exclusive in fashionable life does not see that he excludes himself from enjoyment, in the attempt to appropriate it. The exclusionist in religion does not see that he...

The essay on “Prudence” was given as a lecture in a course on Human Culture, in the winter of 1837-8. It was published in the first series of Essays, which appeared in 1841. In it, Emerson describes Prudence as “The virtue of the senses” and admits to having little of it in himself.

Excerpt from Emerson's Essay on Compensation These thoughts on government, religion, and art alike, are colored by democracy. The exclusive in fashionable life does not see that he excludes himself from enjoyment, in the attempt to appropriate it. The exclusionist in religion does not see that he...

This collection of essays, published in 1850, features Emerson's thoughts and reflections on such eminent men of history as Plato, Swedenborg, Shakespeare, Montaigne, Napoleon, and Goethe, and includes the essay "Uses of Great Men." 

Excerpt from Emerson's Essay on Compensation These thoughts on government, religion, and art alike, are colored by democracy. The exclusive in fashionable life does not see that he excludes himself from enjoyment, in the attempt to appropriate it. The exclusionist in religion does not see that he...

“Cada gran hombre es el único ejemplar de su originalidad” En este texto, Emerson desarrolla la idea según la cual la confianza en sí mismo, imprescindible para el crecimiento personal de cada uno, está necesariamente asociada al anticonformismo. Liberarse del peso de las normas sociales,...

Zurück zur Natur! Kaum ein anderer Text hat wie Emersons Essay von 1836 Kreise gezogen: Naturschutz und grüne Bewegung sind ohne ihn kaum denkbar. Doch durchzieht den Text auch eine zweite Bedeutungsebene, denn "zurück zur Natur" bedeutet auch: "weg von den alten Fesseln" –...