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The Road to Self-Discovery


Emerson's aunt, Mary Moody Emerson, who encouraged and inspired Emerson to think for himself, posed as a prominent influence in his early life. Aunt Mary lived her life by the motto, "always do what you are afraid to do." Her influence on his thinking at such an early age strongly impacted Emerson's resolute search for identity. In turn, Emerson challenges and beckons us forward, down the road to our best selves, continuously urging us to be more creative, continually reinventing ourselves in our quest for selfhood.
             Derived from a stable and influential educational background, Thoreau made friends among other well-developed thinkers such as Emerson and Walt Whitman, who ultimately exerted a strong impact on the budding writer. Attempting several various occupations, Thoreau struggled with his uncertainty of the direction in which he wanted to lead his life. He hoped his readers would learn to analyze his techniques of writing and understand their complexity as preparation for his ultimate goal to question and re-evaluate any institution, political, economic or religious, thus encouraging unregimented thought. In one of Thoreau's most esteemed works, Walden, he states, "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately- But can we live deliberately? The dictionary suggests Thoreau's words mean we must become aware of the choices we make and why we make them in order to contour our lives. By living with a purpose, we ultimately control whom we become. Thoreau also observes, "For most men, it appears to me, are in a strange uncertainty about it whether it is of the devil or of God, and have somewhat hastily concluded that it is the chief end of man here to glorify God and enjoy him forever." Emerson attacks the conformities of religion, making the bold claim that man quickly accepts anything he hears rather than questioning its validity and applying this knowledge.


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