Emerson's Essays

Emerson's language is his greatest achievement in terms of eloquence and understanding. It is consistent with everything else in the language after Shakespeare.

Richard Bloom Here are some of Ralph Waldo Emerson's most famous pieces, including the call to "Self-Reliance," the thorny realisations of "Circles" and "Experience," and the revolutionary accomplishment of "Nature." Emerson, who has been our nation's most persuasive advocate for individualism, also admits the forces that American society exerts against individualism. While praising what he refers to as "the great and crescive self," he dramatises and documents its vicissitudes. His numerous essays on history, art, politics, friendship, love, and other topics are also included here.