most of the time successful modern life
involves lots of technology constantly
being connected with other people
working very hard for as much money as
possible and doing what we’re told so it
may come as a surprise that some of the
best advice about modern life comes from
an unemployed writer who lived alone in
the woods and refused to pay his taxes
henry david thoreau reminds us about the
importance of simplicity authenticity
and downright disobedience he was born
in 1817 in Concord an unassuming town
west of Boston his father was a pencil
maker and his mother took in boarders he
attended Harvard College in 1833 yet he
rejected the ordinary career paths like
law medicine or the church then Thoreau
struck up a remarkable friendship with
American transcendentalist philosopher
Ralph Waldo Emerson transcendentalism is
a philosophy that emphasizes the
importance of the spiritual over the
material when it comes to leading a
fulfilling life Emerson and his
transcendentalism had a huge influence
on Thoreau
moreover Emerson helped Thoreau find a
place where he could focus on his
writing the older man owned a plot of
land in the woods surrounding the nearby
Walden Pond and in 1845 he allowed
Thoreau to build a small cabin there
three by four and a half meters in his
two years in the cabin Thoreau penned
the first draft of his most notable work
walden or life in the woods which was
eventually published in 1854 it would
become an inspirational text about
self-discovery Thoreau argued that his
escape to Walden Pond was not simply a
relaxing retreat to the forest he
settled there to live deep and suck out
the marrow of life as he put it I went
to the woods because I wished to live
deliberately to front only the essential
facts of life and see if I could not
learn what it had to teach and not when
I came to die discover that I had not
lived after some time in the cabin
Thoreau discovered a different more
conscious lifestyle to begin with he
concluded that we actually need very few
things he suggested that we think about
our belongings in terms of how little we
can get by with rather than how much we
can get
he managed to sustain himself on only
one day of work a week he pointed out
that walking the distance of a 30 mile
train journey took a day but working to
earn the money to pay for the same
journey would take more than a day like
his friend Emerson Thoreau deeply valued
what he called self-reliance he
distrusted society and a progress it
claimed to have made the civilized man
has built a coach he said but has lost
the use of his feet he felt that
economic independence from other people
and from the government was crucial and
while he understood that we need
companionship from time to time he felt
that too often we use other’s company to
fill gaps in our inner life that were
afraid to confront the task of learning
to live alone was for Thoreau not so
much about carrying out daily chores as
it was about becoming a good companion
for oneself
relying first and foremost on oneself
friendship intimacy and moral guidance
insist on yourself never imitate he
wrote most of all one should change
oneself before seeking to change the
world Thoreau also viewed technology as
an often unnecessary distraction
he saw the practical benefits of new
inventions but he also warned that these
innovations couldn’t address the real
challenges of personal happiness our
inventions are wanted to be pretty toys
which distract our attention from
serious things we are in great haste to
construct a magnetic telegraph from
Maine to Texas but Maine and Texas it
may be have nothing important to
communicate Pharaoh believed we should
instead look to nature which is full of
spiritual significance
he thought of animals forests and
waterfalls as inherently valuable both
for their beauty and their role in the
ecosystem we can best understand
ourselves as a part of nature we should
see ourselves as nature looking into
nature rather than an external force or
the master of nature most of all nature
provides the meaning that money and
technology and other people’s opinions
cannot by teaching us to be humble and
more aware by fostering introspection
and self-discovery this mental state and
not money or technology provides real
progress Thoreau optimistically declared
only that day dawns to which we are
awake there is more day to dawn the Sun
is but a morning star
perhaps the best testament of the value
of Thoreau’s individual contemplation
and personal authenticity is that his
ideas lead him to powerful political
conclusions Thoreau argued that people
are morally obliged to challenge a
government that uphold hypocritical or
flagrantly unfair laws so the ROE turned
to what he called civil disobedience
peacefully resisting immoral laws in
protest in July 1846 he withheld payment
of his poll tax duty to avoid paying for
the mexican-american war and slavery I
asked for not at once no government but
at once a better government he wrote
after spending the night in jail it was
not until it was picked up by subsequent
reformers that his si civil disobedience
became one of the most influential
pieces of American political philosophy
in history influencing Gandhi Martin
Luther King and the anti-nazi resistance
despite his time as a hermit Thoreau
teaches us how to approach our
frightening Lee vast highly
interconnected and morally troubling
modern society he challenges us to be
authentic not just by avoiding material
life and its distractions but by
engaging with the world and withdrawing
our support for the government when we
believe it’s acting unjustly his works
endure and remind us of just how
important it is to remove the
distractions of money technology and
other people’s views in order to live according to our best and truest nature
involves lots of technology constantly
being connected with other people
working very hard for as much money as
possible and doing what we’re told so it
may come as a surprise that some of the
best advice about modern life comes from
an unemployed writer who lived alone in
the woods and refused to pay his taxes
henry david thoreau reminds us about the
importance of simplicity authenticity
and downright disobedience he was born
in 1817 in Concord an unassuming town
west of Boston his father was a pencil
maker and his mother took in boarders he
attended Harvard College in 1833 yet he
rejected the ordinary career paths like
law medicine or the church then Thoreau
struck up a remarkable friendship with
American transcendentalist philosopher
Ralph Waldo Emerson transcendentalism is
a philosophy that emphasizes the
importance of the spiritual over the
material when it comes to leading a
fulfilling life Emerson and his
transcendentalism had a huge influence
on Thoreau
moreover Emerson helped Thoreau find a
place where he could focus on his
writing the older man owned a plot of
land in the woods surrounding the nearby
Walden Pond and in 1845 he allowed
Thoreau to build a small cabin there
three by four and a half meters in his
two years in the cabin Thoreau penned
the first draft of his most notable work
walden or life in the woods which was
eventually published in 1854 it would
become an inspirational text about
self-discovery Thoreau argued that his
escape to Walden Pond was not simply a
relaxing retreat to the forest he
settled there to live deep and suck out
the marrow of life as he put it I went
to the woods because I wished to live
deliberately to front only the essential
facts of life and see if I could not
learn what it had to teach and not when
I came to die discover that I had not
lived after some time in the cabin
Thoreau discovered a different more
conscious lifestyle to begin with he
concluded that we actually need very few
things he suggested that we think about
our belongings in terms of how little we
can get by with rather than how much we
can get
he managed to sustain himself on only
one day of work a week he pointed out
that walking the distance of a 30 mile
train journey took a day but working to
earn the money to pay for the same
journey would take more than a day like
his friend Emerson Thoreau deeply valued
what he called self-reliance he
distrusted society and a progress it
claimed to have made the civilized man
has built a coach he said but has lost
the use of his feet he felt that
economic independence from other people
and from the government was crucial and
while he understood that we need
companionship from time to time he felt
that too often we use other’s company to
fill gaps in our inner life that were
afraid to confront the task of learning
to live alone was for Thoreau not so
much about carrying out daily chores as
it was about becoming a good companion
for oneself
relying first and foremost on oneself
friendship intimacy and moral guidance
insist on yourself never imitate he
wrote most of all one should change
oneself before seeking to change the
world Thoreau also viewed technology as
an often unnecessary distraction
he saw the practical benefits of new
inventions but he also warned that these
innovations couldn’t address the real
challenges of personal happiness our
inventions are wanted to be pretty toys
which distract our attention from
serious things we are in great haste to
construct a magnetic telegraph from
Maine to Texas but Maine and Texas it
may be have nothing important to
communicate Pharaoh believed we should
instead look to nature which is full of
spiritual significance
he thought of animals forests and
waterfalls as inherently valuable both
for their beauty and their role in the
ecosystem we can best understand
ourselves as a part of nature we should
see ourselves as nature looking into
nature rather than an external force or
the master of nature most of all nature
provides the meaning that money and
technology and other people’s opinions
cannot by teaching us to be humble and
more aware by fostering introspection
and self-discovery this mental state and
not money or technology provides real
progress Thoreau optimistically declared
only that day dawns to which we are
awake there is more day to dawn the Sun
is but a morning star
perhaps the best testament of the value
of Thoreau’s individual contemplation
and personal authenticity is that his
ideas lead him to powerful political
conclusions Thoreau argued that people
are morally obliged to challenge a
government that uphold hypocritical or
flagrantly unfair laws so the ROE turned
to what he called civil disobedience
peacefully resisting immoral laws in
protest in July 1846 he withheld payment
of his poll tax duty to avoid paying for
the mexican-american war and slavery I
asked for not at once no government but
at once a better government he wrote
after spending the night in jail it was
not until it was picked up by subsequent
reformers that his si civil disobedience
became one of the most influential
pieces of American political philosophy
in history influencing Gandhi Martin
Luther King and the anti-nazi resistance
despite his time as a hermit Thoreau
teaches us how to approach our
frightening Lee vast highly
interconnected and morally troubling
modern society he challenges us to be
authentic not just by avoiding material
life and its distractions but by
engaging with the world and withdrawing
our support for the government when we
believe it’s acting unjustly his works
endure and remind us of just how
important it is to remove the
distractions of money technology and
other people’s views in order to live according to our best and truest nature
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