Ralph Waldo Emerson 
Circles 

Circles is an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson, first published in 1841. The essay reflects on the vast array of circles one may find throughout nature, and what is suggested by these circles in philosophical terms. In the opening line of the essay Emerson states The eye is the first circle; the horizon which it forms is the second; and throughout nature this primary figure is repeated without end.

About the author

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-nineteenth century. Although he began his career as a Unitarian minister, he gradually moved away from the religious and social beliefs of his contemporaries, formulating and expressing the philosophy of transcendentalism instead. Seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society, he disseminated his thoughts through published essays and public lectures across the United States.