Emerson trained as a Unitarian minister but left the pulpit to become an essayist and lecturer, traveling across a young America. From his home in Concord he led the Transcendentalist circle and mentored Thoreau. His essays on nature and self-reliance urged Americans to stop imitating Europe, trust their own intuition and find the divine in everyday life.
Core ideas
Each person should trust their own inner voice over custom and authority
Nature is a living symbol of the spirit that runs through all things
Every generation must think for itself instead of living on old books
The tradition: Transcendentalist
Transcendentalism holds that truth is reached through intuition and the soul's contact with nature, beyond what the senses and churches teach. Emerson is its founder and its most influential voice.
