“All educated Americans, first or last, go to Europe”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Culture
1860s, The Conduct of Life (1860)
Context: I have been quoted as saying captious things about travel; but I mean to do justice. I think, there is a restlessness in our people, which argues want of character. All educated Americans, first or last, go to Europe; — perhaps, because it is their mental home, as the invalid habits of this country might suggest. An eminent teacher of girls said, "the idea of a girl's education, is, whatever qualifies them for going to Europe." Can we never extract this tape-worm of Europe from the brain of our countrymen?

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Ralph Waldo Emerson 727

American philosopher, essayist, and poet 1803–1882

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“All educated Americans, first or last, go to Europe”

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