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Transcendentalism embodies the concept that people have a deeper and more profound understanding of the world around them than simply by what they can glimpse with their senses. In this collection of essays and poems, the works of three transcendentalist authors are shared, each with their own impressions and opinions supporting the movement.

Henry David Thoreau was a 19th century American writer and lifelong advocate for the abolition of slavery. His written works are many and varied but he is perhaps best known for works such as Walden, a book which promotes the idea of simple living in natural surroundings and for Civil Disobedience, which argues that the general population should not simply sit idle while those elected to government ride roughshod over their wishes.

In the early spring of 1845, Henry David Thoreau built and lived in a cabin near the shore of Walden Pond in rural Massachusetts. For the next two years, he enacted his own Transcendentalist experiment, living a simple life based on self-reliance, individualism, and harmony with nature. The journal he kept at that time evolved into his masterwork, Walden, an eloquent expression of a uniquely American philosophy.

Winner of an Obie and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and directed by Tony nominee Leigh Silverman, Yellow Face is as timely as ever, wrestling with issues of cultural appropriation, complicity, and artistic freedom. It’s brought to life in this audio-only revival by a stunning all-star cast (many playing themselves) led by Daniel Dae Kim.

In 1849, 5 years before Henry David Thoreau published Walden, he wrote what has come to be recognized as the philosophic textbook for nonviolent revolution. "I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward," Thoreau wrote. "It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right." Taking as his major premise the idea that "...government is best which governs least," Thoreau asserts that one's first loyalty is to one's own nature.

Ready yourself for this carefully crafted collection of quotes from some of the greatest minds the world has ever seen! Featuring world-famous playwrights, philosophers, activists, Presidents and physicists, from Churchill and Shakespeare to Gandhi and Einstein, this is an entertaining and inspiring compilation covering everything from Ancient Rome to modern-day Britain.

This essay by Thoreau first published in 1849, argues that individuals should not permit governments to overrule their consciences. It goes on to say that individuals have a duty to avoid allowing the government to make them the agents of injustice. The quote: "That government is best which governs least," sometimes attributed to Thomas Jefferson or Thomas Paine, actually was first found in this essay. Thoreaus' thoughts were motivated by his disgust with slavery and the Mexican-American War but they are still relevant and resonate today.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was a naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. Thoreau's literary style combines the observation of nature with personal experience, symbolic meaning, and historical lore. His books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry amount to more than 20 volumes.

"Walden" (1854) is a work by Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings. "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary.

John Lithgow and B.D. Wong here recreate their original roles from the Tony Award-winning production. Inspired by an actual espionage scandal, a French diplomat discovers the startling truth about his Chinese mistress.

The Ultimate Essays Collection is a wide-ranging collection of 24 classic essays analysing everything from war to love, journalism to race, travel to nature, and much more, read by an award-winning cast of narrators. Included here are essays by some of the greatest writers of all time, including Thomas Paine; Fyodor Dostoyevsky; Henry David Thoreau; Virigina Woolf; Sigmund Freud; Zora Neale Hurston; Langston Hughes; Jack London, and more.

Thoreau gives an account of three canoe and hiking journeys - by himself and with others - through the mostly uninhabited forests of Maine in the 1850s. Identifying birds, trees and plants by their botanical as well as their common names, he also records the Indian names of lakes, rivers and plants. He investigates the connections between waterways and trails, and provides detail on camping, fishing and hunting in the woods, using whatever is at hand. Extolling the beauty of the wilds that he encounters, Thorough’s narrative is also imbued with elements of his philosophy.

Compiled from magazine articles published in the 1850s after his death, Cape Cod details several short trips Thoreau made to "the bare and bended arm of Massachusetts" between 1849 and 1855. "He went to the Cape out of curiosity," explains Paul Theroux, "but in the course of his travel a great thing happened: Thoreau, the woodsman and landlubber, discovered the sea."

Canoeing in the Wilderness by Henry David Thoreau is an account of a canoe trip through a vast tract of almost-virgin woodland in Maine. The author, a friend and a Native American guide spent two weeks in the wilds, navigating waterways in a canoe or walking and camping on land. The charming prose blends the meditative with detailed descriptions of the journey, the scenery, and the guide’s admirable knowledge and skills.

The Maine Woods is based on Henry David Thoreau’s lengthy experiences in the forests of Maine in the years 1846, 1853, and 1857. Thoreau describes the area in exquisite detail: the native people and their languages, the loggers and their labors, the rivers, the trees, the plants, and the birds. Experiencing all the joys of the woods, he padded in a canoe, climbed hills, and tried the local foods. The journey also makes him contemplative of his own weaknesses and strengths.

When Harold Ross founded The New Yorker in 1925, he described it as a “comic weekly.” And although it has become much more than that, it has remained true in its irreverent heart to the founder’s description, publishing the most illustrious literary humorists of the modern era. This anthology gathers together, for the first time, the funniest work of more than seventy New Yorker contributors.

Walden, by Henry David Thoreau, is a personal narrative about Thoreau's solitary living experience near Walden Pond in Massachusetts. Starting with the building of his cabin by the pond in 1845, Thoreau recounts his experience away from society and city life. Thoreau spends his time growing beans for money while appreciating the beautiful wilderness around him. Although he lives a solitary life for nearly two years, Thoreau explains that he does not feel as isolated as one might think.

In the early 1850s, Henry David Thoreau took many meditative walks along the coast. In Cape Cod he reflects on these beach-combing trips and the powerful forces of the sea.

Walden is a work by noted transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and to some degree a manual for self-reliance. First published in 1854, Walden details Thoreau's experiences over the course of two years, two months, and two days in a cabin he built near Walden Pond amid woodland owned by his friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson, near Concord, Massachusetts.

Hear some of the greatest American essays ever written! This unabridged collection covers a multitude of subjects, including philosophy, politics, turkeys, and dogs.