Self-Reliance is a highly regarded insightful essay in the first series by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882) was born in Boston, Massachusetts. At age 14, he went to Harvard College, where he studied Greek, Latin and history, taking outside jobs to cover his school expenses. While he was at Harvard, he decided to be known by his middle name, Waldo, henceforth. In 1829, Emerson was ordained at Boston's Second Church. However, after the death of his wife in 1832, he began to have doubts about the church, feeling it was an institution that was confined by its traditions, which lead to his resignation. In 1833, he began travelling in Europe, and continued his poetry and writing. He eventually settled in Concord, Massachusetts. During the civil war years, he opposed slavery and gave lectures and wrote influential essays regarding his beliefs, though he was never comfortable with being in the limelight. Emerson's first series of essays was published in 1841. He was a champion of individualism, an influential lecturer, an insightful essayist and philosopher and is often referred to as the Sage of Concord and the father of transcendentalism.