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 to young people and entrepreneurs.Self-Reliance (1841) is also one of the most significant essays of its author, from a philosophical and humanistic point of view. It is an essay in which Emerson defends the aspirations for cultural emancipation of his country with respect to the Old Continent and ...