Do Not Go Where The Path

This saying is widely attributed to Emerson but no verified source in his published essays or journals has been identified. It aligns with the individualist and pioneering spirit central to his essays and lectures, and may have originated as a paraphrase of his ideas that acquired independent circulation. Emerson was one of the most quoted figures of 19th-century America, and his celebrity made his name a common attachment for aphorisms consistent with his worldview.