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The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Modern Library Classics)

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Ever since first reading Emerson in college, I've been looking forward to revisiting his essays. Considering this collection is nearly 850 pages long, one would be on solid ground saying that everything Emerson ever wrote is "essential." His best known essays are included here: "Nature," "The American Scholar," "The Transcendentalist," "The Lord's Supper," "The Poet," and my favorite, "Self Reliance," together with essays on subjects including love (pp. 190-200), friendship (pp. 201-214), prudence (pp. 215-224), experience (pp. 307-326), character (pp. 327-340), nature (pp. 364-377), politics (pp. 378-389), farming (pp. 671-581), Plato (pp. 420-445), Napoleon (pp. 447-466), Abraham Lincoln (pp. 829-833), Carlyle (pp. 837-841), and Emerson's friend and neighbor, Thoreau (pp. 809-825). About Thoreau, Emerson writes, "he was bred to no profession, he never married; he lived alone; he never went to church; he never voted; he refused to pay a tax to the State; he ate no flesh, he drank no wine, he never knew the use of tobacco; and, though a naturalist, he used neither trap nor gun. He chose, wisely no doubt for himself, to be the bachelor of thought and Nature . . . It was a pleasure and a privilege to walk with him. He knew the country like a fox or a bird, and passed through it as freely by paths of his own" (pp. 810; 817-18).

Emerson "opens doors and tells us to look at things for ourselves" (p. xiii) poet, Mary Oliver (THE LEAF AND THE CLOUD), writes in her excellent Introduction to this collection. Like Thoreau, Emerson's writing stays with you for life. "The invariable mark of wisdom," he writes in "Nature," "is to see the miraculous in the common" (p. 38). "It is better to be alone than in bad company," he says in "The Transcendentalist" (p. 90). "It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude," he writes in "Self-Reliance" (p. 136). "If we live truly, we shall see truly" (p. 143). In the same essay he says, "We must go alone. I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching" (p. 145). "We live amid surfaces," he observes in "The Poet," "and the true art of life is to skate well on them" (p. 315).

Whether you're new to Emerson or not, page after page, this recently-published collection of his "essential writings" will appeal to any reader interested in experiencing an original American thinker.

G. Merritt

My daughter sent me one of these e-mail questionnaires intended to reveal your personality. One of the questions on it was, "What person, living or dead, would you give $10,000 to spend an hour with?" In that moment, I typed in "Ralph Waldo Emerson". He's not the only one, but I certainly would beg, borrow or steal $10,000 for an hour with him -- not Thoreau, not Whitman, not Schiller... but Emerson I would. And Goethe I would. Still my simple heart lies closer to Emerson than to Goethe.

30 years ago, when I entered high school, we studied the Transcendentalists in a basic lit class, and something about Emerson just glowed in my mind. The teacher told me that with time I'd get to know other authors better, and Emerson would take his place alongside a legion of others. But he was in a degree mistaken. Emerson never did diminish. I have never fallen out of love with him. And the relationship is a serious one. When the shadow of doubt creeps over me that my presence on this planet might be some kind of horrendous mistake, I still crack open a volume of Emerson. And he has never failed to recall me to myself.

With all the books written about philosophy today, and in the past, this should be perhaps, by far, the most sought after work. Camus and Dostoevsky have contributed much to thought and philosophy of existentialism, but this seems to, in its own way, surpass any labeling of a type of philosophy.

Self-Reliance has to be one of the most understood pieces in the collection. Mr. Emerson speaks in a tone that is easily understood and thoughts explained in plain english, no degree required to understand. And once understood, ideas are easy to apply to our own life to better understand what we have read.

Without a doubt, this book is a must in any thinkers library. Walt Whitman says it best about this book, "I was simmering, simmering, simmering. Emerson brought me to a boil." A genius of a book.

I think it is probably safe to assert that to read Emerson is to be forever indebted to him. His wording, his clearness of thought, his determination, his warmth... He has all the qualities one could ask for in a writer, and all one could ask for in a mentor. Nietzsche held Emerson's books the closest, and said they were above his praise; Borges added "Whitman and Poe have overshadowed Emerson's glory, as inventors, as founders of cults; line by line, they are inferior to him". James, the very Whitman, Proust, Frost, have all also praised him sincerely. Judging from other reviews, the love for Emerson hasn't diminished, more than a century after his passing.

For those who are not familiar with his works, it should be noted that Emerson is, without a doubt, a very unique writer. I was surprised when I realized that there is more poetry in his philosophy than in most verse books, yet he is always lucid; and that his poems, although hued by an impressive depth of thought, remain always passionate. He was renown as a brilliant lecturer, and his essays have all the force and simplicity of the oral form. Few people are so rich in memorable aphorisms, and one finds a treasure of a quote in every sentence: "A drop is a small ocean"; "We are not built like a ship to be tossed, but like a house to stand"; "Whoso be a man, must be a non conformist"; "Punishment is a fruit that unsuspected ripens within the pleasure which concealed it"...

Those looking for a good introduction to Emerson can't do wrong buying this Modern Library Edition. In fact, those who are familiar with Emerson but are looking for an inexpensive paperback to carry around probably should pick this one up too. It includes all his major works; a very generous selection of his lesser writings; 23 poems, and a great introduction by Mary Oliver. I was a little puzzled when I saw that they included very little from Representative Men and kept English Traits in its entirety, instead of the other way round. It then occurred to me that in English Traits one gets a glimpse of the journal-writer, the philosopher, and the poet interwoven all in one. Those looking for a more complete, durable edition of Emerson's works should probably go with the Library of America ed. (2 volumes), or the very expensive and very thorough Centenary ed. (12 volumes!!). You can easily find all his oeuvre on the internet, though, so you don't need to buy book after book just to glean everything he wrote in his lifetime.

To put it simply, if you have any interest in philosophy, literature, poetry, religion, or life, read Emerson. You may not be convinced by his arguments, but there's no point in nodding your way through a book. What remains after you finish reading it is what counts, and few writers can be found whose works are as pervasive and fondly remembered as Emerson's are.

Having read piece-meal through alot of the Trancendentalists (but never picked up anything more than a quote from Emerson), I picked up this book expecting just to read a couple of essays for perspective and stow it away on my shelves for reference.

Thirty-six hours later I was setting the book onto my shelves, but for the sole purpose of retiring for some much needed sleep before spending another five or six hours finishing the book. The editors deserve a tremendous amount of credit for putting the essays and letters together in a way that allows the reader to walk cleanly through the book without losing sight of the author. Having finished the book, I have to admit that Emerson is in a dead-heat with Throreau (for me) as the most inspiring and intelligent of the time. Amazingly clean read with delightful insights that are still relevant today.

Does it make any sense to call this man dead? I cannot read any essay he ever wrote without hearing a call to life and to my better self. More than a pot of Folgers Emerson can keep me up at night, more than any man or woman I've met in this life he makes me think and wonder and love both- his prose is so honest that it "rises naturally to poetry." There is a reason our "greatest poets" lived in such awe of him. This man knew, felt, thought, lived the full range of man and soul and never flinched. In fact, he wrote it down. He is unmatched. Any time you spend reading this would be better spent buying this book. He is among the greatest of Americans. Enjoy.

After perusing the wonderful assortment of Emerson's work in this marvelous compendium, I was inspired by the sheer genius of this man. I found his work inspirational because it reminded me how insightful and profound we humans can be. As we go through the day-to-day of modern life, it has become apparent that our culture believes the more basic you speak the more real you are being---well after reading Emerson, modern "realness" can take a hike. Here's to the intellect!

Buy this book, sit back and read what thoughts we are capable of forging, and enjoy!

After reading the essay, "Self Reliance," I had a new perspective on my own intellectual capacity.

Emerson's faith in reason, truth, and the potential of the individual, are inspiring.

These essays are a great introduction to learning to trust yourself to find your own spiritual path.

He is religious with out being dogmatic. He wonderfully marries the intellect with wonder. mmmm.

Highly recommended.

I remember dreading having to read Emerson in college. However, when I read "The Poet," I was hooked. He weaves such power and emotion into his works. I was often brought to tears. Life is so beautiful, and everything is so obtainable to him. We need only listen to the world to obtain the answers. These are only a few of the breathtaking philosophies that he blesses the reader with. I would recommend this collection to anyone willing to take the time to comprehend it. It will change you life, only if in a small way.

This edition contains many good pieces of writing by Emerson. Emerson is a philosophical and poetic thinker. This means his poetry is often philosophical and his philosophy as expressed in his essays often poetical. He is in one sense the quintessential American philosopher whose message is an optimistic and life- affirming one. He too is American in calling for a kind of human self- reliance and affirmation. And here it must be remembered that the controversial American moved away from Trinitarian Christianity to be a Unitarian whose sense of the Divinity was both Transcendental and Immanent. It is no accident that he is the great father- figure who hails Whitman's arrival on the scene for they both were capable of seeing in everyday life realities signs of the Divine. Emerson is not however the simple optimist one misreading makes him, but a person who knew deep personal tragedies and had a sense of difficulties of life. He does however believe in human powers and greatness, and he does speak primarily in terms of affirmation. He stands in a way at the center of much of American and even European thought, for it is difficult to think of either William James or Neitzsche without Emerson.
I cannot say that he has been a central figure in my life, but I have from time to time through his writings felt illumination and beauty, ' glad to the brink of fear' .