emerson & thoreau

two of my favorite authors to teach my sophomores is Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. They were both transcendentalist writers, which basically means they valued intuition, self-reliance, and nature. They were optimistic. Literally, it means they believed that one had to go beyond the physical word to see the truth in life.

Thoreau wrote Walden, a book about his experiences at Walden Pond. He went there to "suck out all the marrow of life." His life philosophy is simple: simplify. Simplicity, simplify - these words are repeated several times within his essay. If we simplify our lives, we will be happier and will be more successful in the things we do attempt. If we focus more on our own lives, and less on others, we will be better people. Last but not least, if we spent more time on our lives than we do our work, we would be happier. he also says that if we go in the direction of our dreams, and live the life we have imagined, we will find success.

In Self-Reliance , Emerson states that "to be great is to be misunderstood." He stresses that we are only happy if we try our hardest at something, and if we rely on ourselves. He says that to be a man, one must be a nonconformist.

I love teaching these ideas and philosophies to sophomores. They make me reevaluate my life, and hopefully they reevaluate theirs.