Trans vs. AntiTrans

I personally enjoy the writings of the Transcendentalist authors. They tend to seem more upbeat and in general more exciting to read. When we were reading the Anti-transcendentalist's works, I got the impression that Man in general shouldn't be trusted and that everyone was never being completely honest. Where as the Transcendentalists I felt life is beautiful and should be lived to its full potential instead of focusing on the negatives. This idea to me is inspiring and uplifting. My favored Transcendentalist would have to be Henry Thoreau.