The philosopher-poet who wrote, "I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and new," was Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Emerson was a leading figure in American Transcendentalism, a nineteenth-century movement that emphasized individual conscience, spiritual insight, nature, and independent thought. The quotation reflects his belief that friendship was central to a meaningful intellectual and moral life.
The line is associated with Emerson’s essay "Friendship," published in Essays: First Series in 1841. That collection also included some of his best-known works, including "Self-Reliance," "Compensation," and "The Over-Soul."
The quotation is sometimes reproduced with slightly different punctuation or with "old and the new" instead of "old and new." Those variations do not change the attribution. Emerson was both a philosopher and a poet, but he is especially remembered for essays and lectures that shaped American literary and philosophical culture.