in nature and seeking the transcendent rather than focusing on traditional academic pursuits.

“Self-Reliance” is probably one of Emerson's most famous essays. In it, he promotes the individual and encourages people to avoid dependence on and conformity to others but rather to trust in themselves and strike out on their own path. “Insist on one's self,” he urges; “never imitate.” Only a firm commitment to one's principles will bring peace.

Emerson's other essays include “Representative Men,” in which he sets forth the likes of Plato, Shakespeare, and Napoleon as examples of humanity; “The Conduct of Life,” in which he places value on concentration; “The Poet,” in which he asserts that art flows from the unity of the human, the natural world, and the divine; and “Experience,” in which he optimistically affirms that every experience of life is an opportunity for learning.

Emerson's essays are still much quoted (although a bit less read in full these days). His style is accessible, for the most part, and he delights in aphorisms that have become part of the American cultural milieu. His ideas are unique and interesting, and he provides (at the very least) food for thought through his philosophy and writings.

Ralph Waldo Emerson contributed to American by influencing other writers; calling for a national literature; imbuing his writings with the ideal of spiritual harmony as opposed to the dominance of material gain. Emerson look to Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe as the inspiration for literary thought of his day in the same way that American writers looked to Emerson for theirs. In this sense, Emerson brought the philosophy and thoughts of Germany's greatest poet into American literature.

Some of the American greats who were influenced by Emerson are Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Emerson called for a New World Renaissance in literature to replace the past European Renaissance. He wanted a national literature to rise up that reflected the environs of America as well as the social and cultural concerns of America--advocating that a new voice be brought from the heart of the American experience to the collective of literary experience.

Emerson brought a note of spirituality to the new national literature because his emphasis was on harmony deriving from within, a harmony within one's self. In his writings, that harmony is reflected in his poetry celebrating Nature's wild life that surrounded him. His ideas were opposed to the notion that the ideal was the freedom to make money. His spiritual ideas feed the fuel of later eras with the idea that inner harmony is superior to the drive for wealth.