Showing results by author "David Henry Thoreau" in All Categories

In the early spring of 1845, Henry David Thoreau built and lived in a cabin near the shore of Walden Pond in rural Massachusetts. For the next two years, he enacted his own Transcendentalist experiment, living a simple life based on self-reliance, individualism, and harmony with nature. The journal he kept at that time evolved into his masterwork, Walden, an eloquent expression of a uniquely American philosophy.

Thoreau built his cabin near Walden Pond in 1845 on land owned by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Walden which is considered one of his best works, describes Thoreau's two-year experience as a resident of Walden Pond. Focusing on the concept of self-knowledge, he encourages readers to get to know themselves and the world around them.

Walden is the classic account of two years spent by Henry David Thoreau living at Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts. The story is detailed in its accounts of Thoreau's day-to-day activities, observations, and undertakings to survive out in the wilderness for two years. Thoreau's journal is an exquisite account of a man seeking a more simple life by living in harmony with nature.

Thoreau's classic account of the solitary life, describing his attempts to simplify his life and sort out his priorities by living alone in a cabin beside Walden Pond for nearly two years, is one of the most influential books ever written. The bible of the environmental movement, Walden vividly portrays Thoreau's reverence for nature, and his understanding of the idea that nature is made up of crucially interrelated parts.

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately.” And so it began. Henry David Thoreau, at 27, built a tiny, one-room cabin in the woods — on land owned by his friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson — and began his two-year experiment in frugality on the shore of Walden Pond. He wasn’t seeking isolation so much as simplicity, to “live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.”

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, surveyor, and historian. The essay "Wild Apples" first appeared in the Atlantic Monthly in 1862. It begins with a history of the apple tree, chronicling its journey from Ancient Greece to America. The author compares the history of the apple to that of mankind, contemplating it with a tragic eye. He considered the idea of wildness not as sinful, but the source of creativity. 

Selections from Henry David Thoreau's Walden and Civil Disobedience, and Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Introduction to Thoreau", "Self-Reliance", "Nature", "The American Scholar", "Education", and "Politics". Thoreau dedicated his life to preserving his freedom as a man and an artist.

At Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau reflected on simpler living in the natural world. By removing himself from the distractions of materialism, Thoreau hoped to not only improve his spiritual life but also gain a better understanding of society through solitary introspection. In Walden, Thoreau condenses his two-year, two-month, two-day stay into a single year, using the four seasons to symbolize human development - a cycle of life shared by both nature and man. A celebration of personal renewal through self-reliance, independence, and simplicity....

 Walking was first published in the June 1862 issue of Atlantic Monthly. In this treatise, Thoreau reminds us of how the primal act of walking connects us with nature. He argues that the genius of walking does not lie in mechanically putting one foot in front of the other toward to a destination, but in mastering the art of sauntering. The themes of Walking include freedom, self-reflection, and exploration. Thoreau states that the act of walking marks the human being as an inhabitant, or part and parcel of nature, rather than a member of society. 

In 1845, after years of literary and emotional struggle, friend and colleague Ralph Waldo Emerson invited Thoreau to build a cabin on his land near Walden Pond, the location of which became Thoreau's inspiration. Walden records the doctrines of transcendentalism that he lived, supported, and for which he became famous. He focuses on the concept of self-knowledge and encourages all people to find some way to learn more about themselves and the world around them. Thoreau is remembered as a major American essayist, poet, and practical philosopher. 

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was a naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. Thoreau's literary style combines the observation of nature with personal experience, symbolic meaning, and historical lore. His books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry amount to more than 20 volumes. 

In the early 1850s, Henry David Thoreau took many meditative walks along the coast. In Cape Cod he reflects on these beach-combing trips and the powerful forces of the sea.

Henry David Thoreau discusses walking, the importance of nature, and the human need for walking in the wilderness. 

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Here is Henry David Thoreau’s classic work of personal experimentation and nonconformist living, Walden, presented in a special condensation with a new introduction by PEN Award-winning historian Mitch Horowitz.

> Walking is not as well known as Thoreau's other works Walden, The Maine Woods, and Civil Disobedience. But it is a good place to start exploring his writing because it was his last book, in 1862, published by the Atlantic Monthly shortly after his death. It is less well known because it is general, as opposed to singular, in focus. It is his summing up of his thoughts on life: One should saunter through life and take notice; one need not go far.

Henry Thoreau is considered, along with Edgar Allan Poe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman and Nathaniel Hawthorne, as one of the leading figures in early American literature, and Walden is without doubt his most influential book. It recounts the author's experiences living in a small house in the woods around Walden Pond near Concord in Massachusetts. Thoreau constructed the house himself, with the help of a few friends, and one of the reasons why he moved into it was in an attempt to see if he could live independently and away from society. The result is an intriguing work which blends ...

Walden is an account of the time Thoreau lived alone in a cabin in Concord, Massachusetts. He built the cabin, grew and sold vegetables, and contemplated consciousness and identity. The theme is simple - it focuses on living in natural surroundings, and in essence, the work may be seen as a declaration of independence, a social experiment, quest of spiritual discovery, and a self-reliance guide. The text contains scientific observations of nature along with metaphorical and poetic applications of natural phenomena. 

It is hard to top the pleasure of a woodland walk in Spring unless of course you have a lyric poet as your guide. Now that is possible with Poets of Nature. Let Walt Whitman, John Keats, Emily Dickinson, Henry David Thoreau, Emily Bronte, and Ralph Waldo Emerson take you into that realm of Nature "where we seldom wander".

This essay by Thoreau first published in 1849, argues that individuals should not permit governments to overrule their consciences. It goes on to say that individuals have a duty to avoid allowing the government to make them the agents of injustice. The quote: "That government is best which governs least," sometimes attributed to Thomas Jefferson or Thomas Paine, actually was first found in this essay. Thoreaus' thoughts were motivated by his disgust with slavery and the Mexican-American War but they are still relevant and resonate today.

Noted transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau spent two years, two months, and two days chronicling his near-isolation in the small cabin he built in the woods near Walden Pond on land owned by his mentor, the father of Transcendentalism, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Immersing himself in nature and solitude, Thoreau sought to develop a greater understanding of society amidst a life of self-reliance and simplicity. Originally published in 1854, Walden remains one of the most celebrated works in American literature.