Character and Self explores how great writers have understood the making of a life. Bringing together Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, Margaret Fuller, and Madame de Staël, editor Ron McAdow presents their words in a way that speaks directly to readers. Brief introductions and annotations illuminate how these voices, drawn from different genres and contexts, converge on questions of character, relationship, emotion, and moral choice. Character and Self treats these writers as partners in conversation about how to live. Character and Self offers an inviting way to encounter foundational texts and to use them as mirrors in which to see one's own struggles.