Ralph Waldo Emerson
(1803-1882)

birthdate: May 25
birthplace:
Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts

He never lost his spirituality, but Ralph Waldo Emerson did leave his position as a minister in the Unitarian Church, even though he grew up the son and grandson of ministers. Soon after breaking with the ministry, he took a trip to England, where he met the famous poet William Wordsworth and his circle of intellectuals. His conversations with these people, along with his studies of the philosophies of Buddhism, Hinduism, and other world religions, led Emerson to write his most famous essay, "Nature", at the age of thirty-three. In this essay he developed the concept of transcendentalism, whose main principle is "the mystical unity of nature". Transcendentalism became one of America's greatest contributions to philosophy and literature and Ralph Waldo Emerson is often thought to be one of this country's first true promoters of environmentalism.

Biography © Larry Auld

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