Emerson the Awesome :)

Out of all of the authors we have read, I enjoyed Emerson the most. Emerson's writing was concise and to the point. While some of his language is a little confusing and sometimes muddles the point, the point can always come across. I enjoy his brazen point of view. For the era he grew up, he certainly had clashing points of views, especially with his speech, "The Divinity School Address". It was my favorite. This was when he was still happy, still optimistic. His point was rash and probably sored the pride of most of the graduating students...and the Dean...oh hell and everyone else in New England at the time, but it was beautifully put and blunt. I loved how he talked about life being "retrospective" and that the preachers were teaching something second hand that could never be understood that way again. I loved the idea of the sublime being the purity and fullness of man, and the Jesus was just a prophet, not a "god". And I very much enjoyed his piece "Self-Reliance", even though he sounded bitter and grouchy. The idea that contradiction (I can't directly quote, but I think this was the general idea) is the hobgoblin of small minds was brilliant.
Out of all of the classical writers I've read, he was possibly my favorite.