I call upon you, young man, to obey your heart,
and to be the nobility of this land.
Who should lead the leaders but the young
American?
This was the clarion call of Ralph Waldo Emerson more than a hundred years ago, invoking Americans to restore the vision of the original American ideal, to seek out a freer, deeper, more harmonious life. Today, in a world shaken by new social, technological, and ideological revolutions, his words have equal validity and meaning.
Emerson stood against conformity and for self-reliance; whatever his subject, his theme was always "the infinitude of the private man." But he was not merely a poetic idealist, an abstract thinker. Nearly always he spoke in terms of the concrete facts of life, and his sense of humor, his optimism, and his practical good sense make his thoughts as pithy and as relevant today as they were in his own time.
He believed in man's abilities to define his own life ("Wherever a man comes, there comes revolution," he said). And he believed in revolution too. "If there is any period one would desire to be born in," he wrote, "is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the new stand side by side and admit of being compared; when the energies of all men are searched by fear and by hope; when the historic glories of the old can be compensated by the rich possibilities of the new era? This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it."
This sample of Emerson's writings, selected and splendidly illustrated by James Daugherty, invites the reader into the great adventure of discovering and exploring the mind of an American genius.
ARTIST'S NOTE:
"I recall how delighted I was when reading Emerson for the first time as a teen-ager. And now decades later I find even deeper delight in the philosophy of love and joy expressed in the noble rhythms of his dynamic prose.
"If Emerson was the great American Transcendentalist in his journals and essays, he was also the sensible good neighbor and citizen in the village of Concord, where he spent most of his life. He kept orderly accounts of home finances and fulfilled long and arduous lecture tours across America.
"It is this balanced blending of the practical and pragmatic with the transcendental ideal, the spiritual and intellectual, that makes him so representative of the American character and the so-called American dream. It is this harmonious dualism that makes our national life so varied, rich, and strong, despite the errors, frustrations, and besetments that plague our wayfaring.
"We thank you Ralph Waldo Emerson for the rich heritage of your wisdom, joy, and love bequeathes to unending generations."
—from the dust jacket
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