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DECEMBER 2012
PRABUDHHA JIVAN
33
Thus HE Was, Thus HE Spoke :
HENRY DAVID THOREAU
Man's life must be of equal simplicity and sincerity and wealth seems to be foolish in that they are transient with nature, and his actions
and they cost humanity. According to Thoreau's harmonize with her grandeur and beauty. --Thoreau
calculation presented in the book, most economic Henry David Thoreau was an American philosopher,
activities are not economical. Hence, he recommends poet and environmental scientist whose biggest pre
a life excluding all superfluities. He thinks them as dross.
Owning more than the indispensable only distracts a occupation was on finding answers to concrete problems of icing in a world as a human being. Where
person from seeing the very truth of life.In his most
famous work-'Walden', Thoreau clearly states what he he differs from contemporary philosophers or most
desires in life: "Rather than love, than money, than fame, philosophers was that he wanted and did walk his talk. His life and works were not only reflective thought but
give me truth.
My favorite phrase in Walden is "If you have built a way of life.
castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is The way of life was that of a Naturalist, of being with
where they should be. Now put the foundations under NATURE as that is the only way to make some sort of
them." How beautifully he blends the ideal and the sense of human existence.
pragmatic. Thoreau was an intellectual to begin with. From a
So let us revel in the Natural world of trees, wind, very early age, he was equipped and well versed with
the sky and the sea. various scriptures and also wisdom literature like classical Greek and Roman philosophies, also modern
The morning wind forever blows, philosophies like Descartes, Locke.
The poem of the world is uninterrupted, So what was Thoreau's philosophy of life. In a
but few are the ears that hear it. nutshell, he saw meaning in life only if one's goal was Going nowither; where travelers are not too often to a constant spiritual exploration and personal growth be met; where my spirit is free; and that he figured quite early, that to have that kind of where the walls and fences are not cared for, where growth, it was a must to live a simple life and to study vour head is more in heaven Nature and live in natural surroundings which would
than your feet are on earth. help enhance that growth. His thoughts and suggestions are both idealistic and
My personal favorite: practical. They are idealistic for normal people who
As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe valued material growth, fame, power highly. They are will be simpler, solitude will not be solitude, poverty will simple for Thoreau, having lived at Walden Pond for not be poverty, nor weakness weakness. two years and two months as an experiment of his
RESHMA JAIN proposal.
The Narrators To Thoreau, the society's preoccupation with money
Mobile: 9820427444 THOREAU QUOTES . Be true to your work, your word and your friend good for something. . Cultivate the habit of early rising. It is unwise to keep • Do not hire a man who does your work for money, the head lying on a level with the feet
but to him who does it for love of it. Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of Every man is a builder of a temple called his body. much life. Aim about morality. Be not simply good; be
