The notion that one has only ‘lived’ if one follows such dictates, is a very narrow view. I think he was a romanticist and for the vast majority it was not possible to come face to face with nature in isolation. It is notable that he was only able to have his tryst with nature because he came from a civilized middle class background, and from a secure financial position gained with all the trappings of civilization. As for wanting ‘better’ government that has long been the call of the majority, and does not set him apart from his fellowman. One must be fair however, and his strong abolitionist views were a credit to him, and his concern for the environment rings bells today. I am a countryman, but I have always ‘stood up’ and paid my dues for the benefit of my fellowman. He was a tax resister… is that standing up and living, or existing in cloud cuckoo lane? He refused to pay on abolitionist grounds, but pretty well everyone could take a stand against paying taxes on some grounds or other. I think his phrase is a throw away line, a sound bite in modern parlance, having no substance, and denigrating his fellowman to the dust heap of despondency. There is nothing so noble as working for the good of others. What about the mass of men who have fought and struggled in life to care for family? Have they not 'stood up and lived'? Yes of course they have. It is important to note that the vast majority came from humble working class backgrounds and not from a life of relative comfort as did Thoreau. He appeared to think he is above his fellow man, standing apart from him, and has 'stood up to live' whereas others 'the mass of men' live in desperation or, if they write, write from inexperience. I repeat, I think he was a glass half empty man. For me however I think he was wordy and thought rather a lot of himself. That's ok, Capitan there is room for all viewpoints and yours is as valid as another's. Location: San Salvador, San Salvador, El Salvador If I have any experience which I think valuable, I am sure to reflect that this my Mentors said nothing about." End Quote Here is life, an experiment to a great extent untried by me but it does not avail me that they have tried it. They have told me nothing, and probably cannot tell me anything to the purpose. I have lived some thirty years on this planet, and I have yet to hear the first syllable of valuable or even earnest advice from my seniors. Practically, the old have no very important advice to give the young, their own experience has been so partial, and their lives have been such miserable failures, for private reasons, as they must believe and it may be that they have some faith left which belies that experience, and they are only less young than they were. One may almost doubt if the wisest man has learned anything of absolute value by living. Age is no better, hardly so well, qualified for an instructor as youth, for it has not profited so much as it has lost. Old people did not know enough once, perchance, to fetch fresh fuel to keep the fire a-going new people put a little dry wood under a pot, and are whirled round the globe with the speed of birds, in a way to kill old people, as the phrase is. Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new. What old people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can. What everybody echoes or in silence passes by as true to-day may turn out to be falsehood to-morrow, mere smoke of opinion, which some had trusted for a cloud that would sprinkle fertilizing rain on their fields. Perhaps the reason why he must have the Walden experiment? But all in all a very severe view is expressed here: Quote, " No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Chapter 1 Economy,, "Walden" (Remember, Thoreau started keeping his journal a few years before 1845 when he built the cabin on Walden Pond, and he published "Walden" in 1854) Within a few sentences the context of the subject quotation changes abruptly Thoreau is not satisfied with anything passed down to him. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.
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