"Simplicity, Simplicity, Simplicity!"
Who is he?
Henry David Thoreau is one of the most influential American philosophers and authors of all time. He was born in 1817 in Concord, Massachusetts into his family who made little money. Later in his life, he went to school at Harvard and became good friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson who became very influential in his beliefs and writings. He died in1862 of tuberculosis but his legend lives on today.
What did he do for transcendentalism and America?
Thoreau is most commonly know for his two famous works "Civil Disobedience" and Walden.
Walden was inspired by his journal written about his two year stay in a small cabin in the woods by the Walden pond by Concord, Massachusetts. Here he experienced the fullness of nature, lived the simplest of lives and for the most part was isolated from society. Simplicity, nature, and self reliance are some of the key transcendental ideas and through this piece, Thoreau influences the belief of Americans far beyond his time.
"Civil Disobedience" is an essay by Thoreau that encourages resistance to injustices of government. His belief is that people only should do what they feel is right because individuals are more important than government. This concept is a strong supporter of Abolition and becomes a major inspiration for Gandhi and Martin Luther King in the Civil Rights Movement.
“I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, This quote from Walden is a direct example of how Thoreau wished to live his life. He
wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life wanted to "live deliberately" which is to live with intention and meaning. He used the vivid
To put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die imagery of sucking out the marrow of life to emphasize his idea of living life to its
Discover that I had not lived”(ThinkExist). fullest with no limit and absorbing every vital part life had to offer him. The end of the quote
references how he wanted to find the meaning of life and live the right way so that before he died, he could be satisfied with the thought that he lived his life the way it was to suppose to be lived. Through his journey in Walden and his success in influencing America, Thoreau lived a life with meaning and intention. This quote encourages us to do the same by chasing our dreams, connecting with nature and following what we feel is right rather than living life just to get through it with no purpose.
Henry David Thoreau is one of the most influential American philosophers and authors of all time. He was born in 1817 in Concord, Massachusetts into his family who made little money. Later in his life, he went to school at Harvard and became good friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson who became very influential in his beliefs and writings. He died in1862 of tuberculosis but his legend lives on today.
What did he do for transcendentalism and America?
Thoreau is most commonly know for his two famous works "Civil Disobedience" and Walden.
Walden was inspired by his journal written about his two year stay in a small cabin in the woods by the Walden pond by Concord, Massachusetts. Here he experienced the fullness of nature, lived the simplest of lives and for the most part was isolated from society. Simplicity, nature, and self reliance are some of the key transcendental ideas and through this piece, Thoreau influences the belief of Americans far beyond his time.
"Civil Disobedience" is an essay by Thoreau that encourages resistance to injustices of government. His belief is that people only should do what they feel is right because individuals are more important than government. This concept is a strong supporter of Abolition and becomes a major inspiration for Gandhi and Martin Luther King in the Civil Rights Movement.
“I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, This quote from Walden is a direct example of how Thoreau wished to live his life. He
wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life wanted to "live deliberately" which is to live with intention and meaning. He used the vivid
To put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die imagery of sucking out the marrow of life to emphasize his idea of living life to its
Discover that I had not lived”(ThinkExist). fullest with no limit and absorbing every vital part life had to offer him. The end of the quote
references how he wanted to find the meaning of life and live the right way so that before he died, he could be satisfied with the thought that he lived his life the way it was to suppose to be lived. Through his journey in Walden and his success in influencing America, Thoreau lived a life with meaning and intention. This quote encourages us to do the same by chasing our dreams, connecting with nature and following what we feel is right rather than living life just to get through it with no purpose.