People And Biographies

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), American writer, philosopher, and naturalist who believed in the importance of individualism. Thoreau’s best-known work is Walden; or, Life in the Woods (1854), which embodies his philosophy and reflects his independent character. The book records Thoreau’s experiences in a hand-built cabin, where he spent two years in partial seclusion, at Walden [...]

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), American essayist and poet, who asserted in his writings the belief that each person has the power to transcend the material world and to see and grasp the infinite. The philosophical movement of which he was a leader has been given the name transcendentalism. Influenced by such schools of thought as [...]