This short essay by the American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson(1803-1882) is among the works that have most influenced former U.S.President Barack Obama, who has repeatedly recommended its reading toyoung people and entrepreneurs.
Self-Reliance (1841) is also one of the most significant essays of its author, from a philosophical andhumanistic point of view. It is an essay in which Emerson defends theaspirations for cultural emancipation of his country with respect tothe Old Continent and at the same time glimpses the potentialcharacteristics of the new nation.