"This is one of the ur-texts of New England liberalism. It is,
in a sense, a 'where we come from' document. Reading it for the first
time is much like meeting at last someone of whom one has heard
endless stories from one's friends. Indeed, the recognition is so
keen, it almost feels like cliches, the way Shakespeare does -- and in
some cases has become; this is the 'where those ideas came from'. (Not
necessarily in the ultimate sense, but in the sense of 'and this is
the crater where that meteor of an idea struck this continent of a
culture.')" --
siderea,
2007-12-16
(regarding "Self-Reliance", by Ralph Waldo Emerson)