Read more
Excerpt from Select Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson
What ferment of radical thought went on beneath the de corons exterior of that quiet scholar's life we know with remarkable fullness and accuracy. From early boyhood Emerson kept a journal - a habit, in his case, denoting a mind disposed to make unusual exactions of the hypocritic Days. At first, he is much occupied with what he has read or proposes to read; but presently his note-book becomes a kind of storehouse for mellowing the fruits of his daily medi tations, and an experimental garden for planting the seeds of new thoughts gathered on his intellectual adventures. The Journals, now published in twelve volumes, give us an invaluable commentary upon the long-familiar essays, and they enrich greatly our sense of the personality behind them. Especially they illuminate the turning point in Emerson's life, when he abandoned the pulpit and became a wholly free thinker and speaker. With their help, one per ceives that for years before the Open break, the inner eman cipation had been proceeding. One observes the young thinker expanding beyond the formulas of his parish, reach ing out towards the life of his nation, feeling his way into the higher spirit of his times, daily becoming more eager to ex change messages and compare visions with the leaders of his generation.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
