“I cannot marry the facts of William Shakespeare to his verse: Other men had led lives in some sort of keeping with their thought, but this man is in wide contrast.”

American essayist and poet of the 19th century, Emerson is best known for his transcendentalist philosophy and influential lectures on self-reliance and individualism. His works, including "Self-Reliance" and "Nature," championed intuition, personal experience, and the inherent goodness of humanity.