Gandhi once said, "a man is nothing but the product of his thoughts, what he thinks, he becomes". Gandhi was a thinker with free will and was the famous leader of the Indian independence movement; he based his teachings on non-violence and truth. Having been born and raised in India, he saw all aspects of the control of British rule, but knowing none of the problems of British control, Gandhi left to study law in England. He soon leaves for South Africa and opens a law firm. But it was here in South Africa that Gandhi organized his first protest against South Africa's anti-Indian laws and was imprisoned. When he was released he returned to India and seven years later was tried and sentenced to six years in prison. In prison, Gandhi began his “great fast” to protest British control. But Gandhi persisted in winning the battle without violence, so he was repeatedly thrown into prison and fasted continuously. Even though he was imprisoned for years, nothing stopped India's great independence leader. Gandhi once said, “you may chain me, you may torture me, you may even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.” Gandhi's beliefs can easily be translated into transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is a philosophy that promotes spiritual thinking and being one with nature. Ralph Waldo Emerson who wrote Nature and Self-Reliance and Henry David Thoreau who wrote Civil Disobedience and Walden are two famous examples of transcendentalists. They believe that people should not conform to society's ways and beliefs and instead listen to their conscience, even if they have to be judged by others. They are true to themselves and find themselves through nature and solitude. Most of the world's mavericks were... middle of the paper... and they succeeded. Gandhi is known as the father of India, but he may also be known as a transcendentalist because of his acts of civil disobedience, his careless thoughts about what others thought of him, and his perseverance for racial equality and type. Comparing Transcendentalism and Gandhi, we can clearly see how closely related their philosophies were because, like Transcendentalism, Gandhi was self-reliant, nonconformist, and believed in equality. Gandhi set an example for many other leaders to help them gain independence because like all other actions, it starts with ideas, and with ideas everything is possible. Everything can be achieved if we all come out of the pressures of society and find ourselves and be the person we intend to be and not the puppet of society. As Gandhi once said, “a man is nothing but the product of his thoughts, what he thinks, he becomes.”