Henry David Thoreau's Where I lived, and What I Lived For Essay

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

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

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.

Also in from Where I Lived and What I Lived For one can find how Thoreau shows his appreciation for the wisdom of the past and a dislike for progress. In his last couple phrases he describes the railroads, which can be seen as a symbol for technology or advancement, these he talks about with great antipathy as he implies that no outward improvement will bring the inner peace and contentment that men seek. He suggests that the freedom that railroads are thought to represent truly bring about a type of servitude in the respect that one must conform to the train’s schedules and routes. In conclusion he states, “We do not ride the railroad, it rides upon us.”

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

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 says, "I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartanlike as to put to rout all that was not life, ... and reduce it to its lowest terms" (Thoreau 235). Thoreau also says, "We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us" (Thoreau 237). This means that some things which we believe make our lives simpler actually make it more complicated.

     Furthermore, our lives are lived so shallowly and are filled with the frail, irrelevant things, and not the pulp of life. We think of time as the last peanut butter remaining in the jar we go scraping for, whereas Thoreau views time as “the stream I go a-fishing in. ( )” Thoreau stresses simplicity, yet we only feel important by living complexity. The people of Cary live lives almost equivalent to that of bees. We work hard, but relax almost never. We have five televisions, but not five minutes to spare. In the eyes of the people of Cary, complexity is modern.

I also think, through a lot of the writing, that he makes us out to be robotic go about your day in a monotonous way. And he's pretty much correct in that sense. We all have our own routines that we follow throughout our week that we hate to change. The only thing I didn't understand completely was his talk of trains, sleepers, and people that line the track, or buried under the track. "…if some have the pleasure of riding on a rail, others have the misfortune to be ridden upon". What I think he is trying to say, due to the time period when this was written (1854), was that there are those who are better off and wealthy enough to ride on the new trains and the new tracks that are traveling all over the country, and there are those who can't afford it, and have to walk or ride their horses to their destination with is more of a hardship in those times compared to a fast comfortable train ride, and those who can't venture into the expanding west and have to stay put in their lives. But I don't know the relationship between this and simplifying your life, so maybe I still do not understand what Thoreau was trying to

He believes that life is at its best when simple. I disagree- in my opinion life is best experienced in a nuanced fashion; shades of grey rather than black and white. Thoreau characterizes simplicity as the key to happiness, but what would life be like if happiness was the sole emotion? PArt of what makes life worth living is the varied experiences that come with the package. Yes, struggle is part of that package

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

Henry David Thoreau, author of “Civil Disobedience” and Walden, has become one of the most influential authors of all time in the eyes of many. Though some might be led to believe his essays and writings, including “Where I Lived, and What I lived For”, make him a down to earth and even rugged author, as he spent some of his life in the forest. However, his life in the woods was not one of heavy duty work and he often was supported with objects and material possessions, contrary to what many of his essays describe. Although some might think of him as a cheater or a liar, Thoreau’s conflicting lifestyles prove him to be a literary genius as he successfully dictates a lifestyle he himself does not take part in throughout paragraphs one

    Thoreau presents his views on the news, technology, and a simple lifestyle. He believes that the news is constant throughout time with only a few minor changes in specifics; therefore the news should only be worried about once. Thoreau explains that tools are useful, yet often in society man becomes a tool of his tools. Through this, Thoreau believes that tools should be used as an aid, not as a necessity. Another principle that Thoreau advocates for in his essay is simplicity. He describes the importance of a simple lifestyle by comparing to nature, which is the most simple of lifestyles.

Simple is the way of life that transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau advocated as the most fulfilling of all. Although sometimes irrational, Thoreau wanted a life that was more closely connected with nature in comparison with the majority of a rapidly industrializing America. He favored a more agrarian approach rather than a mechanized form of work and production, for that he believed was alienating man from his roots. Walden, one of Thoreau’s most famous commentaries on such a lifestyle, puts his ideology in perspective as he trod the forests of Concord, Massachusetts near Walden Pond. Living in and around a small cabin, Thoreau realizes that when one is with nature and nature alone, he sees life as immeasurable and unlimited in its