Man and Nature have always been linked since the dawn of time. Men depend on nature for their livelihood and that is why people give a lot of importance to nature, which ultimately leads to the protection of nature by men. The common understanding of men is that they protect nature, but on the other hand, nature also shapes man's life, so man and nature are on equal footing. Ralph Waldo Emerson, born May 25, 1803 and died April 27, and Henry David Thoreau, born July 12, 1817 and died May 6, 1862, were both born in Massachusetts and were friends and Thoreau was influenced by Emerson. According to Emerson, nature must be given importance since man must look for answers in nature and no matter how intelligent a man may be, it is nature on which he will have to depend, but Thoreau has a different opinion about this and he thinks that nature is important but man should be given equal importance. According to Emerson in “The American Scholar,” men are mere puppets and all they know of history comes from bookish knowledge. What Emerson is trying to say is that a man should not be a bookworm and should look for answers in nature, because nature has all the answers to the questions that men ask. A man can represent the entire society of the human race if what he does is appreciated and worth doing. Man is also not sure of his origin and it is the fables in books that tell men how the human race began. The common understanding of men today is that man was divided so that men were created, but man has forgotten this fact and they think that they are now individuals and this is also what Thoreau has to say in “Walden.” According to Thoreau, nature only has answers, but it is in the middle of a paper that I am the holder of the highest power, but everything must happen according to the way God created things (American Scholar , 1837).In conclusion, Emerson and Thoreau compare man and nature as interdependent, but Emerson states that nature should be given more importance than men while Thoreau argues that man and nature are both also important. Works Cited Henry David Thoreau. (April 16, 2014). Retrieved April 17, 2014 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau Ralph Waldo Emerson. (April 16, 2014). Retrieved April 17, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Waldo_EmersonEmerson, R.W. (1836). Nature. Retrieved April 17, 2014, from http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/emerson/nature-contents.html Thoreau, H. D. (1854). Walden; or, life in the woods. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/205/205-h/205-h.htm