To be ignorant of one's ignorance is the malady of the ignorant.

The Alcott family put The Hillside up for rent and moved to Boston. Emerson wrote to Margaret Fuller then editor that they might "pass muster & even pass for just & great". He reflected that the event was a prophecy that he would be "tilting at the sun and always catching the fall.

Based on his ideas for human perfection Alcott founded Fruitlands a transcendentalist experiment in community living. His innovative methods however were controversial and he rarely stayed in one place very long. Nevertheless he continued focusing on educational projects and opened a new school at the end of his life in 1879.