Living Deliberately
Exploring the Literature of Henry David Thoreau
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.
~Thoreau
~Thoreau
Walden Essay
Fitz English
Callan Fries
12/16/15
Why do people need to live a life full of want, if they can live one with a sense of completion? Why do people shut out the beauties of life, and only pay attention to the tedious pains of life? Why do people do something they hate in life, just to be able to be happy. In Walden by Henry David Thoreau, he tells us how we misunderstand listening, simplicity, and work.
Simplicity is a part of life that people misunderstand. Thoreau used simplicity as a guiding principle throughout his life, and he was able to live in a way that was different, but more fulfilling than the common lifestyle of the people around him. Simplicity puts the world into a different perspective in many ways. The people around you become the outcasts. To live simply one must only use what is necessary in life. Anything that isn’t necessary becomes a want. The difference is what people misunderstand. If a person views a want as a necessity, than they will live their whole life chasing the wants.
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 are the gross necessaries of life and what methods have been taken to obtain them; [Economy]
This is where simplicity makes life change. Living simply allows the person to not always be working towards pointless things, and instead they work only for their necessities. This makes a more fulfilling life. If a person can understand this difference, life will become something more pleasurable, than never being satisfied with your life, but one can only know the difference by first learning how to understand it.
Everyone needs to be able to listen to nature to understand it. In the chapter Sounds, by Henry David Thoreau, it talks about how once you can understand nature you can understand yourself. Listening is a vital part of our lives. It has helped people survive on earth since the beginning of time. This is for a reason. Listening helps you understand and feel your surroundings. But really listening, not hearing. Listening and hearing are two very different things. Life is full of beautiful things, but one of the most beautiful, is the sound of nature. Rarely does a person hike into the woods, just to sit and listen. It is the only way to completely understand the world.
Sometimes, in a summer morning, having taken my accustomed bath, I sat in my sunny doorway from sunrise till noon, rapt in a revery, amidst the pines and hickories and sumachs, in undisturbed solitude and stillness, while the birds sing around or flitted noiseless through the house, until by the sun falling in at my west window, or the noise of some traveller's wagon on the distant highway, I was reminded of the lapse of time. [Sounds]
This shows how sounds alone can take life to a new perspective. The rustling of the trees, and the songs of the birds. Nature's melody can clear the mind of a person and let them realize that life does not revolve around technology. Nature is the only place where a man can be free. They are able to see what life started as, and how far we have advanced since then. It is the true way to live life simply, and this was the guideline to Thoreau’s life. It is a common mistake that people make nowadays which is forgetting to acknowledge our surroundings for what they are. Our beginnings, our life line, and our tranquility. They lead us to a pleasurable life.
If work is pleasurable, than it is nothing more than a hobby. Thoreau believes that work is another part of life that people do not think fully through. People spend their whole lives doing something they hate just to live a pleasurable life for the rest of their years, when they could just do something they love for their whole life. The reason people live like this instead of doing something they love, is because the worse job, gives the better money. Money changes the mind of every human being. Because they have wants, they need more money. If they were just to have a simply life, they would be able to only need the necessities and do something that they love for their life.
Instead of going to Fitchburg, you will be working here the greater part of the day. And so, if the railroad reached round the world, I think that I should keep ahead of you; and as for seeing the country and getting experience of that kind, I should have to cut your acquaintance altogether. [Economy]
Here, Thoreau states how he would rather travel the word with barely enough money, rather than with money, for the experience. This is why people misunderstand work. It is not about the money, but for the experience you have doing the work.
Thoreau tells us we can't listen unless we open the mind; he tells us we can not live a fulfilling life without being simple, and he tells us we will never be able to experience a great life without doing what we love.
Read Thoreau! He may tell you something you don't know.
Fitz English
Callan Fries
12/16/15
Why do people need to live a life full of want, if they can live one with a sense of completion? Why do people shut out the beauties of life, and only pay attention to the tedious pains of life? Why do people do something they hate in life, just to be able to be happy. In Walden by Henry David Thoreau, he tells us how we misunderstand listening, simplicity, and work.
Simplicity is a part of life that people misunderstand. Thoreau used simplicity as a guiding principle throughout his life, and he was able to live in a way that was different, but more fulfilling than the common lifestyle of the people around him. Simplicity puts the world into a different perspective in many ways. The people around you become the outcasts. To live simply one must only use what is necessary in life. Anything that isn’t necessary becomes a want. The difference is what people misunderstand. If a person views a want as a necessity, than they will live their whole life chasing the wants.
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 are the gross necessaries of life and what methods have been taken to obtain them; [Economy]
This is where simplicity makes life change. Living simply allows the person to not always be working towards pointless things, and instead they work only for their necessities. This makes a more fulfilling life. If a person can understand this difference, life will become something more pleasurable, than never being satisfied with your life, but one can only know the difference by first learning how to understand it.
Everyone needs to be able to listen to nature to understand it. In the chapter Sounds, by Henry David Thoreau, it talks about how once you can understand nature you can understand yourself. Listening is a vital part of our lives. It has helped people survive on earth since the beginning of time. This is for a reason. Listening helps you understand and feel your surroundings. But really listening, not hearing. Listening and hearing are two very different things. Life is full of beautiful things, but one of the most beautiful, is the sound of nature. Rarely does a person hike into the woods, just to sit and listen. It is the only way to completely understand the world.
Sometimes, in a summer morning, having taken my accustomed bath, I sat in my sunny doorway from sunrise till noon, rapt in a revery, amidst the pines and hickories and sumachs, in undisturbed solitude and stillness, while the birds sing around or flitted noiseless through the house, until by the sun falling in at my west window, or the noise of some traveller's wagon on the distant highway, I was reminded of the lapse of time. [Sounds]
This shows how sounds alone can take life to a new perspective. The rustling of the trees, and the songs of the birds. Nature's melody can clear the mind of a person and let them realize that life does not revolve around technology. Nature is the only place where a man can be free. They are able to see what life started as, and how far we have advanced since then. It is the true way to live life simply, and this was the guideline to Thoreau’s life. It is a common mistake that people make nowadays which is forgetting to acknowledge our surroundings for what they are. Our beginnings, our life line, and our tranquility. They lead us to a pleasurable life.
If work is pleasurable, than it is nothing more than a hobby. Thoreau believes that work is another part of life that people do not think fully through. People spend their whole lives doing something they hate just to live a pleasurable life for the rest of their years, when they could just do something they love for their whole life. The reason people live like this instead of doing something they love, is because the worse job, gives the better money. Money changes the mind of every human being. Because they have wants, they need more money. If they were just to have a simply life, they would be able to only need the necessities and do something that they love for their life.
Instead of going to Fitchburg, you will be working here the greater part of the day. And so, if the railroad reached round the world, I think that I should keep ahead of you; and as for seeing the country and getting experience of that kind, I should have to cut your acquaintance altogether. [Economy]
Here, Thoreau states how he would rather travel the word with barely enough money, rather than with money, for the experience. This is why people misunderstand work. It is not about the money, but for the experience you have doing the work.
Thoreau tells us we can't listen unless we open the mind; he tells us we can not live a fulfilling life without being simple, and he tells us we will never be able to experience a great life without doing what we love.
Read Thoreau! He may tell you something you don't know.
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