Transcendentalism in Society Emerson, the great Transcendentalist author, once wrote,”There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion [...]”(“Self- Reliance”). Transcendentalism was a literary movement, where simple ideas such as equality, self-knowledge and individuality, and learning from nature became a quiddity of life. They believed that knowledge came from intuition and imagination rather than logic and reasoning. This movement gained many followers, so the Transcendentalists Club was formed. Many well known thinkers and writers were in the club: Ralph Waldo Emerson, the club’s leader, Margaret Fuller, …show more content…
Since nearly all transcendentalists were writers, there are many of their works still read and analyzed today. As Woodlief stated, “Many writers were and still are inspired and taught by Emerson and Thoreau in particular, and struck out in new directions because of the literary and philosophical lessons they had learned”(“Literary Legacy”). Therefore Transcendentalism was and is used as an inspiration in people’s writings. Many people may use ideas from this literary movement to express individualism, nonconformity, and self-realization. According to “Transcendentalism: Impact on American Literature,” “The Transcendentalists, particularly Emerson, perpetuated the idea that writers are seers. It's the writer's duty to see the world clearly, to summon the world to life.[...] Literature was a platform to liberate people, to help them see what needs to be seen: nature, spirituality, self-identity, and social injustice” (“Transcendentalism: Impact on American Literature”). Writers who write as seers are expressing ideas that are based on Transcendentalism. Most writers today, write to express the effects of nonconformity, individualism, nature and even social injustice, in society. Hence, Transcendentalism has played a role in the literature that is still around