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shansandler 's review for:
Walden
by Henry David Thoreau
Review
This was dense. He would dedicate pages to a group of red ants fighting a group of black ants that he watched intensely and then rewrote here...By the end I was skipping over things. However I came upon many of the ideas which I have seen referenced in other media and therefore respect the inherent ideas behind this work. I didn't love it as much as I hoped I would, but I was pleasantly surprised by some of Thoreau's views, such as against philanthropy, irrational advice-seeking from elders, and eating animals.
Notes
On the advances of civilization -
"While civilization has been improving our houses, it has not equally improved the men who are to inhabit them. It has created palaces, but it was not so easy to create noblemen and kings" (35).
On living simply -
"...to maintain one's self on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime, if we will live simply and wisely; as the pursuits of the simpler nations are still the sports of the more artificial" (76).
"Give me the poverty that enjoys true wealth" (212).
"Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Turn the old; return to them. Things do not change; we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts" (350).
On cooperation with another v. solitude -
"...the man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait until that other is ready, and it may be a long time before they get off" (77).
"I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers. A man thinking or working is always alone, let him be where he will" (145).
On philanthropy and charity (I HIGHLY agree with him here) -
"Philanthropy is almost the only virtue which is sufficiently appreciated by mankind. Nay, it is greatly overrated; and it is our selfishness which overrates it" (82).
On debt and contracts -
"As long as possible live free and uncommitted. It makes but little difference whether you are committed to a farm or the county jail" (90).
On mornings -
"Morning brings back the heroic ages... The morning, which is the most memorable season of the day, is the awakening hour" (95).
"Rise free from care before the dawn, and seek adventures" (223).
On eating animals -
"Is it not a reproach that man is a carnivorous animal?...this is a miserable way - as any one who will go to snaring rabbits, or slaughtering lambs, may learn - and he will be regarded as a benefactor of his race who shall teach man to confine himself to a more innocent and wholesome diet" (231).
From the most memorable pages of this book -
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by an conscious endeavor" (97).
"Our life is frittered away by detail" (98). L I V E S I M P L Y.
"The nation itself is just an unwieldly and overgrown establishment".
"We are determined to be starved before we are hungry" (99).
On living in the present -
"When we are unhurried and wise, we perceive that only great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute existence, that petty fears and petty pleasures are but the shadow of the reality" (103).
"...my life itself was become my amusement and never ceased to be novel" (121).
This was dense. He would dedicate pages to a group of red ants fighting a group of black ants that he watched intensely and then rewrote here...By the end I was skipping over things. However I came upon many of the ideas which I have seen referenced in other media and therefore respect the inherent ideas behind this work. I didn't love it as much as I hoped I would, but I was pleasantly surprised by some of Thoreau's views, such as against philanthropy, irrational advice-seeking from elders, and eating animals.
Notes
On the advances of civilization -
"While civilization has been improving our houses, it has not equally improved the men who are to inhabit them. It has created palaces, but it was not so easy to create noblemen and kings" (35).
On living simply -
"...to maintain one's self on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime, if we will live simply and wisely; as the pursuits of the simpler nations are still the sports of the more artificial" (76).
"Give me the poverty that enjoys true wealth" (212).
"Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Turn the old; return to them. Things do not change; we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts" (350).
On cooperation with another v. solitude -
"...the man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait until that other is ready, and it may be a long time before they get off" (77).
"I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers. A man thinking or working is always alone, let him be where he will" (145).
On philanthropy and charity (I HIGHLY agree with him here) -
"Philanthropy is almost the only virtue which is sufficiently appreciated by mankind. Nay, it is greatly overrated; and it is our selfishness which overrates it" (82).
On debt and contracts -
"As long as possible live free and uncommitted. It makes but little difference whether you are committed to a farm or the county jail" (90).
"There are none happy in the world but beings who enjoy freely a vast horizon" - said Damodara
On mornings -
"Morning brings back the heroic ages... The morning, which is the most memorable season of the day, is the awakening hour" (95).
"Rise free from care before the dawn, and seek adventures" (223).
On eating animals -
"Is it not a reproach that man is a carnivorous animal?...this is a miserable way - as any one who will go to snaring rabbits, or slaughtering lambs, may learn - and he will be regarded as a benefactor of his race who shall teach man to confine himself to a more innocent and wholesome diet" (231).
From the most memorable pages of this book -
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by an conscious endeavor" (97).
"Our life is frittered away by detail" (98). L I V E S I M P L Y.
"The nation itself is just an unwieldly and overgrown establishment".
"We are determined to be starved before we are hungry" (99).
On living in the present -
"When we are unhurried and wise, we perceive that only great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute existence, that petty fears and petty pleasures are but the shadow of the reality" (103).
"...my life itself was become my amusement and never ceased to be novel" (121).