A Simple Life Is A Happy Life

Henry Thoreau loved the simplicity of living in the wilderness, just as much as McCandless did, however he loved just to stay put. Thoreau wanted to uncage himself from the outside world and the interferences it had with him living a “full” life. Thoreau thought

Henry David Thoreau had become fascinated with his friend’s, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Transcendentalism ideas. Ideas such as humans being born naturally good and society and government corrupting that purity and making us more dependent on one another and things. Thoreau had built a one-room cabin at Walden Pond where he had lived alone for about two years. In Thoreau’s “From Walden”, he has discovered that simplicity is the key to living in life. He expresses to “let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of one million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumbnail”(218). Don’t overbear yourself with so much work and forget to live. If you live simply, you’ll enjoy what’s around you. Sometimes people are all caught in society’s bubble that they don’t realize what they have. Materialistic things aren’t always important and having everything isn’t what it seems to be. “The faultfinder will find faults even in paradise”(Thoreau 221). No matter how many things one has, they’ll always

The essay by Henry David Thoreau, “Where I lived and What I Lived For” tells Thoreau beliefs of how society should live. He asks deep questions such as, “Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life?” to encourage the reader to contemplate their lives and values. He said, “Our life is frittered away by detail.” and goes on to emphasize the value of, “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” Thoreau states simplicity and self sufficiency are virtues society should live by; however, they potentially jeopardize the community and are consequently not viable today.

Instead, Thoreau built a simple but efficient cabin and furnished it with the basic necessity of a bed, table, chairs and desk. He also didn't waste his time and energy trying to keep up with the latest fashions; he wore comfortable and long lasting clothes. Thoreau explained to his readers that this simplistic way of life decreased the dreariness of every day life and left more time to explore one's meaning of life and his role in the world. Freeing oneself from the economic race, Thoreau argued, allowed for individual to be inspired by nature and focus on the genuine concerns of life.

To Henry David Thoreau, nature serves as a reminder to take a break from the fast paced style of life. Thoreau is a transcendentalist writer who isolated himself from society to live a life at his own pace. The title of his work, Where I Lived and What I Lived For, presents the purpose of his writing. Thoreau expresses where he resided and his reasoning for living there. He successfully achieves his purpose through the use of aphorisms and paradox. He begins his essay with direct and simple vocabulary that clearly states his purpose. He “went to the woods” in order “to front only the essential facts of life”. His destination and intentions are clear. His diction represent his way of thought where details are not needed. His use of aphorisms

Thoreau lived as a minimalist to strip away the distractions of life. He wanted to live in the woods,

To have simplicity in life, which is advocated by Transcendentalism, is getting more important in this complex and busy society because it helps people to focus on pursuing their own goals. Thoreau states, “In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe

A Comparison of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Beliefs concerning Simplicity, the Value and Potential of Our Soul, and Our Imagination.Henry David Thoreau tests Ralph Waldo Emerson’s ideas about nature by living at Walden Pond, where he discovers that simplicity in physical aspects brings deepness to our mind, our soul to its fullest potential, and our imagination to be uplifted to change our lives. These two men believe that nature is what forces us not to depend on others’ ideas but to develop our own. Nature is ever changing so we must keep searching for explanations about human life. They feel that nature is the key to knowing all.Thoreau lives at Walden Pond to find the true meaning of life. He wants to experience

One of Thoreau’s famous quotes is, “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” This means to make ones’ life as simple as possible. He thinks that the poor are the fortunate ones since they have the least to look after and worry about while the rich have so much to look after that they do not have time for themselves. Living a simple life enables one to be free of commitment and obligations. One only has to worry about one’s self.

     Henry David Thoreau was man of simplicity, and if he were to experience life in Cary, he would not only be surprised, but disappointed in humanity itself. Thoreau believed in the necessities of life, nothing more, and the people of Cary live lives exactly the opposite. Cary residents live lives of material possessions, business, and over-complexity. These traits of society are precisely opposite of Thoreau’s

In Walden, he questions the lifestyles that people choose. He makes his readers wonder if they have been chosen the kind of life that will really offer them happiness. Are they merely living a career or some other narrowly routine or is a worthwhile life being lived. Thoreau wonders if the truly valuable elements of life are being taken advantage of if a person is not living simply. If a person is so caught up in working or never having enough in life, one wonders, and satisfaction are difficult to obtain. As he states in the beginning Walden, "most men, even in this comparatively free country, though mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that is finer fruits cannot be plucked by them" (Thoreau 6). This means that people care more about the finer things in life and easier work instead of nature's gifts and hard work. Thoreau draws a parallel between others preoccupation with money and his own enjoyment of non-monetary wealth.

Thoreau wished to open the minds of many revealing the importance of nature “Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off the track by every nutshell and mosquito's wing that falls on the rails” (Thoreau II). In the quote, Thoreau discusses how he learned to live deliberately in nature encouraging other members of society to do the same. He has learned that it can lead to harmonization with oneself, to

Henry David Thoreau was in a movement called Transcendentalism during the 1800’s. They strongly believed in individualism and self-reliance. In Walden he constantly talks about the benefits of having a simpler life. To have a simpler life you would have to get rid of “luxury” goods, which is anything that is

    “Where I Lived and What I Lived For” illustrates the philosophical thinking of Henry David Thoreau during his time at Walden Pond. Thoreau’s goal was to “front only the essential facts of live” and “live deliberately”. His essay is often revered for the self-sufficient and individualistic thinking that he brought to his readers, but despite all the reverence, such principles could tear apart a community. Although the essay was written in the 1850s, many of his arguments for self-sufficiency and individualism hold true today.

In chapter 2 of “Walden,” entitled “Where I Lived and What I Lived For,” Thoreau claims that life is not about materialistic things, but about being simple. He supports his thesis by comparing an example of how life is supposed to be lived, beside how life is not supposed to be lived, and then contrasting both outcomes. He reveals the truths of each example; then he compares materialistic and simplicity examples in order to prove that materialistic things get men nowhere in life contrast to what being simple leads to ( simplicity leads to a strong relationship with nature, which results in one being humble and morally aware). However, he forgot to address the importance of happiness, and how people should go throughout the day with the purpose of being happy.