This collection of nineteenth century essays explores Emerson's thoughts about transcendentalism, individualism, and romanticism. The centerpiece of the collection, Emerson's masterpiece Self-Reliance, explains the need for individuals to avoid conformity and false consistency so that they will be able to follow their own instincts and ideas. Although these thoughts may seem to be anti-society in nature, Emerson asserts that self-reliance must be the starting point not for the end of society but for a more efficient and better one. Throughout this collection, Emerson emphasizes that keen belief in the power of the individual.
‘Were it not for shadows there would be no beauty.’ In Praise of Shadows is an eloquent tribute to the austere beauty of traditional Japanese aesthetics. Through architecture, ceramics, theatre, food, women and even toilets, Tanizaki exp...
“The destiny of humanity relies heavily on how everyone reacts to certain events that are now being experienced. There is a desperate need for change within the society and the opportunity for change is NOW! – it is humanity’s resp...
Marcus Aurelius ruled the Roman empire from AD 161-180. He wrote the 12 books of the Meditations as a source for his own guidance and self-improvement. It is possible that large portions of the work were written at Sirmium, where he spent much time ...
The great writings of American transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) are not some distant ponderings on life - they are works of the highest practicality, intended to supply guidance and daily help. Emerson's ideas arose from...
The first book in the essays of Seneca deals with good and evil. The dialogue is opened by Lucilius complaining with his friend Seneca that adversities and misfortunes can happen to good men too. How can this fit with the goodness connected with the...
Styles of Radical Will, Susan Sontags second collection of essays, extends the investigations she undertook in Against Interpretation with essays on film, literature, politics, and a groundbreaking study of pornography.In The Aesthetics of Silence, ...
While it is true that more than half of psychiatrists are either morons or radically ill-willed or both, it is not true that psychiatry is an inherently useless branch of medicine. The truth is---psychiatry usually works. And it works so long as one...
Redefining the classic essay, this modern edition of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s most famous work, Self-Reliance, includes self-reflections from both historical and contemporary luminaries. With quotes from the likes of Henry Ford and Helen Keller t...
