Henry David Thoreau and His View on Economy and Life Essay

In Walden, Henry D. Thoreau presented a radical and controversial perspective on society that was far beyond its time. In a period where growth both economically and territorially was seen as necessary for the development of a premature country, Thoreau felt the opposite. Thoreau was a man in search of growth within himself and was not concerned with outward improvements in him or society. In the chapter entitled "economy," he argued that people were too occupied with work to truly appreciate what life has to offer. He felt the root of this obsession with work was created through the misconstrued perception that material needs were a necessity, rather than a hindrance to true happiness and the

You may be dead now, but you left a huge impact on the world and on the lives of high school and college students reading your essay Walden, for school. You spent two years at Walden Pond. Why you spent exactly that much time, why you got away from society, why you lived in a small house, will be cryptic to us. You say that this lifestyle was to avoid materialism and find yourself in nature to achieve transcendence. And, this was true in your large essay, for the most part. I began to learn from your writings (Walden, Civil disobedience), however confusing and metaphorical they are. I respect you and what you have taught society. But, you always contradict yourself. Also, I want to tell you know that in your essay of Walden you said that ‘’As you simplify live your life, the laws of the universe will be simple; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness will be weakness.’’ I agree with you but considering that in the light of these modern days it is almost impossible to keep up with simplicity even though I know that to keep up with simplicity is a good thing. like I said, it is almost impossible for our generation to live without technology, without light, and without any facilities because in today’s modern world technology is one of the most important parts of each of the individual lives. Technology is like our soul, and we (the people) can’t live

I believe the overall message of Henry David Thoreau´s “Solitude” is to differentiate solitude and loneliness which are totally different. It is more of a state of mind than something real. People around by other people would feel more loneliness than people who are physically alone. For Thoreau being in solitude is the best way to discover your mind and spirituality and is the best way to know yourself.

Society can be stressful and cause people to want to escape, but that is not the only reason. People who love to research and really discover the world can go out to live in the wild. An

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.

Through removal and technology, humans have started to become isolated from the wilderness and the nature around them. This view distinctly contrasts with Thoreau’s perspective. “Though he [Thoreau] never put humans on the same moral level as animals or trees, for example, he does see them all linked as the expression of Spirit, which may only be described in terms of natural laws and unified fluid processes. The self is both humbled and empowered in its cosmic perspective,” states Ann Woodlief. The technologies that distract and consume us, and separate us from the natural world are apparent. Many people and children ins cities have seen little to no natural-grown things such as grass and trees. Even these things are often domesticated and tamed. Many people who have never been to a National Park or gone hiking through the wilderness do not understand its unruly, unforgiving, wild nature. These aspects, thought terrifying to many, are much of why the wilderness is so beautiful and striking to the human heart. “Thoreau builds a critique of American culture upon his conviction that ‘the mind can be permanently profaned by the habit of attending to trivial things, so that all our thoughts shall be tinged with triviality,’” pronounces Rick Furtak, quoting Thoreau’s Life

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

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

A significant philosopher of the pre-Civil War era of the United States, Henry David Thoreau appeared to be above the standard with his philosophically driven life style. He wrote detailed accounts of his life in his book titled Walden, in which he expressed his desire to escape the confining pressures of human society. His second chapter lauded the concepts of individualism and self-sufficiency, yet he never took into account the potential harm of his mentality, for it could hurt individuals as well as communities, and modern life simply cannot support his ideals.

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's main concern is that the accumulation of wealth, and the desire to obtain it, distracts humans from recognizing their true essence, which is spirituality. In the chapter "Economy," he urges us to learn to live life by ourselves, without the pressures of monetary consumption, and reevaluate ourselves in order to obtain its true necessities. He states, "It would be some advantage to live a primitive and frontier life, though in the midst of an outward civilization, if only to learn what the gross necessaries of life are and what methods have been taken to obtain them" (9). Thoreau reduces the necessaries of life to four things: food, shelter, clothing, and fuel. Anything beyond these four necessities serves as a wall dividing physical from spiritual realities.

For instance, in “Deconstructing the Shed: Where I live and What I Live For,” Samuel Alexander discusses the impact that Thoreau and his book Walden Pond, had on his life and work with connecting it to his life of living simpler. Alexander states, “The aim of this financial exercise is not to create tightwads, but smart consumers who are conscious of the life/time cost of their purchases. After all, as Thoreau would insist, "the cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run" (31).” He states that a simple life with that in mind can have him changing his spending habits with a positive outlook to his life. Richard Prud’Homme in “Walden’s Economy of Living” talks about one of Thoreau’s most important reminders to simplicity, which is “hands-on living.” He quotes Thoreau on his engagement to thinking through his hands, stating “My head is hands and feet” (Walden 70). In “Coaching with simplicity: Thoreau and Sport,” Doug Hochstetler discusses Thoreau’s idea of “simplicity.” He connects how applying simplicity factors can improve coaching experience. Hochstetler states some conditions that can be connected to simplicity, which include but are not limited to freedom, self-discipline, reflection, and attention. He believes if coaches connected these

Again in Walden, Thoreau wrote, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately” [1854]. It is quite strange that Thoreau had chosen to live in woods purposely. Perhaps one reason can be that he is a transcendentalist but one must not forget that he had discovered about the Walden Pond when he was deliberately living in the woods. However, another possible explanation can be that woods are not dominated or are controlled by anyone, nature lives freely in world. Therefore, a reader can

Thoreau kept such detailed records of his spending and earning of money to be able to use his income in the most efficient way possible. In the broadest terms, Economy has been all about using as little as possible while still retaining health and happiness. Thoreau makes a point on page 42 when he says “…very few are able to tell exactly what their houses cost, and fewer still, if any, the separate cost of the various materials which compose them.”. As Thoreau has pointed out in this quote and in other places throughout the book, people waste their hard earned money on unnecessary luxuries and often times do not keep track of their spending, which in turn can result in poverty and unhappiness. The detailed records that he kept throughout his