Discover the Philosophical Wisdom of Ralph Waldo Emerson in 'Self-Reliance and Other Essays'

Jennifer: This book is a classic - opens your mind to new ideas and breaking social barriers. Perfect for anyone who wants to break outside the norms.

(This published copy however is not beautiful, the material/finished product is of low quality)

Spain on Oct 30, 2023

Thomas Tusuubira: I like the readiness and the availability of the book. It is like the original copy.

United Kingdom on Sep 08, 2023

Anna: I needed a palette cleanser & wanted to read something meaningful, but classic. The transcendentalist came to mind! If you are into any form of self discovery, nature, and looking within, this sub genre is so fun to read & research.

United States on Jul 30, 2023

INDIRA SAHAINDIRA SAHA:

India on Apr 18, 2023

asdr: It's an old fashioned book--short, but to the point, a classic. Time tested principals that ring true. Definitely inspirational. Will make you put your big boy/girl pants on.

Canada on Oct 27, 2022

brian: Print was small for me. A lot of words in few pages

United States on Sep 07, 2022

Aran Joseph Canes: Faulkner’s quip is often held to refer to the American South; a land where the sense of history and tradition run so deep that we are still solving the problems of the 1870s.

But it might also be said of Emerson. He was dismissive of the rote education of his day, which emphasized learning dead languages, along with the dates and biographies of notable persons. What he wanted instead was a living absorption of history.

Confident that every man has the capacity to be a Caesar within him, the reader of the Commentaries should feel immersed in the courage, temperance and leadership of the Roman general. Similarly, we might read the life of Antony to understand moral purity or Washington to learn the virtues of a modern Cincinnatus.

In the penultimate essay Emerson goes so far as to say that Aristotle, Charlemagne and the Buddha are not dead but live on by our continual participation in their spirit.

And, while our materialist age may be dismissive of Transcendentalism, even Einstein was moved by the fact that the laws of physics are true whether time runs forward or backward to utter,
“People like us who believe in physics know that the distinction...

United States on Nov 24, 2021

Joseph J. Truncale: Lately, I have taken a renewed interest in Ralph Waldo Emerson. I have read several of his essays, quotes and poems in the past but I had not read this 117 pages Dover thrift edition (Self-Reliance and other essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson) which I purchased on Amazon for a bargain price. I have also ordered other volumes by Emerson at this time.

I was pleased with the quick delivery service. I found this to be a fantastic collection of six essays and one address that I loved reading. The insight and brilliance of Emerson shines in this volume.
The essays (from 1841) in this volume includes: History, self-reliance, friendship, and over-soul. From Essays: second series (1844) the poet, experience and the Divinity School address. The very small print does make this book a little hard to read even with reading glasses. I also have a little trouble with Emerson's style of writing; nevertheless, I found this book to be a wonderful read.

If you are interested in an interesting and historical important writer, philosopher and poet you may want to check out this volume and other writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Rating: 4 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Zen Poetry...

United States on Jul 10, 2021

Kindle Customer: Ralph Waldo Emerson, along with Henry David Thoreau, were the leaders of the Transcendentalism movement throughout New England in the mid nineteenth century. Both railed against the 'holier-than-thou' Puritanicalism that engulfed their societies at that time. Their premise was that we are all God's creation and, being so, we all are a more than mere representatives of Him throughout our lives, that your inner self/conscious is God's relating His best purposes for you and that the sole purpose of our lives is to evolve into the God-like creatures we were meant to be. Hew did not see self-reliance as coming solely from internal ego-driven impulses but from the part of God that theoretically exists within all of us. While his writings, at times, are a bit redundant, at other times they ring of pure poetic prose. Anyone who attempts to degrade Emerson's writings or his mid-1800s progressive thoughts only shows his/her own literary ignorance and/or immaturity and have not thought through and absorbed his basic concepts.

From these thoughts we have both the the mould from which the present day New Age Movement and certain types of charismatic Christianity are formed. They have...

Canada on Sep 21, 2011

J. P. Ledbetter: As an avid reader of history, poetry, philosophy and our founding prinicples; I found this book an excellent read.

Although I agree that Emerson may trt to make every individual see their own specific capabilites, inner strengths and power and their own worth; he did so under the premise that God and faith and moral truth were always there (and required) to attain such independence and I never got the impression that he ever turned away from faith or Divine inspiration as the foundation for "living well" and living life to its fullest.

He correctly addressed his displeasure with the entrenched trappings of those so engrossed in symbolism and dogma that many a religious figure and religious organization had wandered away from the light and the truth of what being moral and "holly" (for lack of a better term)really are.

He warned of putting too much trust and faith in those with fancy words, programs or gimmick when talking about truth, because we often find, they may seem to be wise, but they just take us for a ride in the clouds of hope and we are generally let down when we find out that they are as lost as anyone else on how we can truly find the path back to...

United States on Jan 15, 2006