son alone to the degree he or she attends to the message." The value Emerson attributes to the messages depends upon the Over-soul being "self-sufficing and perfect in every hour."
             In spite of his individualism, Emerson's thought is similar to the romantic nationalism of 19th century Europe, but where this nationalism focused upon collective entities such as a people, their language and culture, or their state, Emerson's focus is upon the individual. In Self-Reliance he says, "it is easy, in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude." Where romantic nationalism stresses the development of an authentic national culture free from foreign influence
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