Lessons from an American Stoic

A lifelong Emersonian scholar, teacher, and spiritual seeker reveals how American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson’s twelve essential teachings hold the answer to living an authentic and fulfilling life, one that is in harmony with our souls.

Known as “the Original American Stoic,” Ralph Waldo Emerson ushered in a spiritual and moral revolution known as Transcendentalism that profoundly changed and came to define America’s distinctive character. A mentor and teacher to Henry David Thoreau, Emerson and his philosophy, outlined in his prized essays, transformed how previous generations of Americans understood their lives. Though he lived in the nineteenth century—a world far removed from our own—Emerson’s message is more necessary than ever today, Mark Matousek argues.

As Americans are once again discovering the power of Stoicism, Matousek shows how this “new-found” attention actually has its roots in Emerson’s timeless wisdom. In How Emerson Can Change Your Life he outlines Emerson’s thoughts on a variety of topics relevant to our lives today, including:

• On Originality—Character is everything
• On Perspective—You are what you see
• On Non-Conformity—Build your own world
• On Resilience—Without confidence, the world is against you
• On Vitality—A stream of power runs through you
• And more

As Emerson inspired contemporaries in his own time, Matousek now encourages us to throw-off conventions and platitudes that no longer serve a purpose to help us identify our true beliefs and what we stand for. By doing so, we find the means to live a full, rich, and meaningful life.