“I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea and at last wake up in Naples, and there beside me is the stern fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from.”

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.