RalphWaldoEmerson(1803---1882)“AmericanConfucius”--AbrahamLincolnLifeMajorWorksIdeasInfluenceRalphWaldoEmersonEarlyLife1803,borninBoston,MA1811,hisfatherdied,“GenteelPoverty”1817,HarvardCollege,UnitarianismEarlyLife1821,graduated,taughtforyoungladies1825,HarvardDivinitySchool1829,minister,TheSecondChurchofBostonFirstMarriage1829,married,EllenLouisaTucker(diedofTBtwoyearslater)1832,resigned,sailedforEuropeInEuropeThomasCarlyleWilliamWordsworthSamuelTaylorColeridgeEuropeanRomanticismLecturerNov.1833,back,careerasalecturerTranscendentalist’sClubTranscendentalistjournalTheDialSecondMarriage1835,marriedLydiaJackson1836,NatureEmersonandLydiawithchildrenandgrandchildrenLateLife&Death1860s,upset,CivilWar1872,lostmemory,aphasia(失语症)April27th,1882,diedNature“TheManifestoofAmericanTranscendentalism”“TheBibleofNewEnglandTranscendentalism”WorksTheAmericanScholar“DeclarationofIntellectualIndependence”AdeclarationofculturalindependencefortheUSWorks“Self-Reliance”Anessaythaturgesreaderstotrusttheirownintuitionandcommonsenseratherthanautomaticallyfollowingpopularopinionandconformingtothewillofthemajority.WorksIdeas“Oversoul”thesoulcancompletelytranscendthelimitsofindividualityandbecomepartoftheOversoulspiritiseverywhere:inthesoulofman,innature“theuniverseiscomposedofNatureandtheSoul”IdeasIndividualismnotthecrowdisthemostimportantall,buttheinfinitudeofman“Trustthyself”“Makethyself”IdeasNatureisemblematicofGod“natureisthevehicleofthought”“natureisthesymbolofspirit”WeaknessneversystematicphilosophydenialtherealityofevildenialofitsrealspiritualoriginInfluenceThoreau,Whitman,Dickinson--indebtedHawthorneandMelville--againsthisoptimism,benefitedfromhisideasHiscallforanindependentcultureplayedaveryimportantpartintheintellectualhistoryofthenation.“Ourlongapprenticeshiptothelearningofotherlandsdrawstoaclose.Themillionsthataroundusarerushingintolifecannotalwaysbefedonthesereremainsofforeignharvests”.“TheFatherofAmericanCivilization”---AbrahamLincolnHappinessisaperfumeyoucannotpouronotherswithoutgettingafewdropsonyourself---Emerson幸福是香水,你洒在别人身上时,自己也会沾上一两滴.---爱默生