Born in Boston in 1803, Ralph Waldo Emerson ended his career as a preacher after three years. "To be a man, one must be a nonconformist" - this was the conviction he followed. He referred to his thoughts as 'children of the forest,' and his essays, influenced by Montaigne, were considered the intellectual declaration of independence of America. During his lifetime, he was revered as a prophet, and his death in 1882 was mourned by all of America.