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Comparing Emerson And Thoreau's Analysis

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Comparing Emerson And Thoreau's Analysis
Whereas Emerson enlarges upon self-reliance in a more structured essay, Thoreau composes a more opinionated free-flowing piece in which he observes how people live their lives too briskly and over-complicated. However, Thoreau was heavily influenced by Emerson’s writing and there are many views that overlap in the two essays. For instance, both Emerson and Thoreau acknowledge the wisdom of infants. Emerson quotes “Infancy conforms to nobody: all conform to it…” likewise Thoreau expresses “I have always been regretting that I was not wise as the day I was born.” Both Emerson and Thoreau do not succumb to society’s standards and ideals, similar to that of an infant yet to be defined by society. A further similarity between Emerson and Thoreau
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