Plutarch Author:Ralph Waldo Emerson '"Plutarch occupies a unique place in literature as an encyclopedia of Greek and Roman antiquity. Whatever is eminent in fact or in fiction, in opinion, in character, in institutions, in science - natural, moral or metaphysical - or in memorable sayings, drew his attention and came to his pen with more or less fulness of record. He is, among p... more »rose writers, what Chaucer is among English poets, a repertory for those who want the story without searching for it at first hand, - a compend of all accepted traditions." ? Ralph Waldo Emerson Emerson is one of the most influential thinkers in American history. His Transcendentalism preached a close communion with man and nature and is one of the great life-affirming philosophies of any age. As one of the architects of the transcendentalist movement, Emerson embraced a philosophy that championed the individual, emphasized independent thought, and prized "the splendid labyrinth of one's own perceptions." More than any writer of his time, he forged a style distinct from his European predecessors and embodied and defined what it meant to be an American. Matthew Arnold called Emerson's essays "the most important work done in prose." "I was simmering, simmering, simmering. Emerson brought me to a boil." ? Walt Whitman« less