Discover Transcendentalism
When one lives in self-reliance and protest against the general state of spirituality they would be called a Transcendentalist. A movement in the 1820s to 1830s really brought attention to this. Authors like Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, and even a popular film called Dead Poets Society. When one is in this state of self-reliance and Transcendentalism they will usually find happiness in themselves before anyone else. They will follow the steps of Emerson in “Self-Reliance”, Thoreau in “Civil Disobedience”, and the theme of the film Dead Poets Society. Within the writings of these authors there are both benefits and consequences of living self-reliant and “sucking the marrow out of life”.
One of the main ideas for Transcendentalism is “Self-Reliance” a step by step writing by Ralph Emerson. Emerson explains having trust and confidence in yourself, he explains controlling your emotions and speaking your voice. He also describes society and how the problems that occurred decades ago still occur now. He says it best in this quote from “Self-Reliance”, “Society is a wave. The wave moves onward, but the water of which it is composed does not.” (Emerson). This quote describes how societies thoughts and emotions have stayed the same although many years have passed. Emerson also wrote about change. He believed that if one wanted to change they could, all they had to do was change their thoughts, attitude, and perspective. Emerson wrote, “If we live truly, we