In his classic essay on Nature (1836), Ralph Waldo Emerson establishes the concept—and subsequent movement—of transcendentalism: from the perception of reality to the enjoyment of beauty, nature satisfies all of humanity’s fundamental needs.

Moreover, it allows a person to see it, provided that they embrace the divine element that permeates everything within it, as the “Universal Being” that connects all things and makes the world rational and comprehensible.