...But he owed Emerson a good deal... Through his influence Thoreau had learned to look on his in a new way. He had become aware of an all-pervading Divinity in man and nature that spoke to him directly in the sunset glow, the wind in the pines, the song of the bird. "Trust yourself," Emerson told him; "in self-trust all the virtues are comprehended. Would you be a writer? There is no need to travel abroad, digging among the ruins of the old world for something to say. All the world lies within you. Record your own spontaneous thoughts and you will record that which men everywhere find truth for them also. A wholly truthful report of your own life will be true of all lives. Look in your heart and write... by Gordon S. Haight | from Walden by Thoreau