Henry David Thoreau

Walking, by Henry David Thoreau, brings forth the idea that nature can cause physical and mental freedom. His essay is split into three parts: The idea of freedom and adventure, the opportunities that came with the Westward Expansion, and the thought that knowledge should be separated into two categories. The three topics come together to create the basis of Walking. Sauntering is the word that Thoreau uses to describe his freedom in nature. He claims that, “Some would derive the word from sans terre, without a land or a home, but equally at home everywhere,” (Thoreau), meaning that they can be completely free and have no attachments, yet find a part of themselves that is comfortable, which makes them feel at home wherever they go. The absence

As the settlers moved west, they happened upon new opportunities and wildness. He writes that, “ we go westward as into the future, with a spirit of enterprise and adventure,” (Thoreau). The adventure, in this case, is the new opportunities and wildness, and the enterprise being the journey to freedom. Not only does Thoreau bring this idea forth, but he supports it again by writing, “The west of which I speak is but another name for the wild… and what I have been preparing to say is that in Wildness is the preservation of the world,” (Thoreau). The wildness is the part of nature that is an adventure, and as long as it is always around, there will always be a place to go that can preserve freedom. As the second section of his essay goes on, he continues writing about the liveliness and inspiration that the West gives him because of the new chances and new concepts. To finish these thoughts, he writes, “Life consists of Wildness,” (Thoreau). To rephrase, he is saying that the wildness of nature and adventure is what life is all about. This theory is shown many times during the Westward Expansion and the expansion of the physical

Thoreau starts the final section of his essay with the thought, “Methinks there is equal need of a Society for the Diffusion of Useful Ignorance, what we will call Beautiful Knowledge, a knowledge useful in a higher sense,” (Thoreau), bringing attention to the difference between information and wisdom. Wisdom is having the power of discerning and judging properly as to what is true or right, whereas information is knowledge communicated concerning a certain fact. The type of knowledge that Thoreau writes about is wisdom, not information. The “Diffusion of Useful Ignorance”, that is mentioned in the quote above, is relating to the spread of information, and having that information regarded as wisdom. This is another well developed topic that is discussed in the final portion of Walking, and involves knowledge versus information. To give an example of the “Diffusion of Useful Ignorance”, Thoreau writes, “a man accumulates a myriad facts…[when] he saunters abroad into the great Fields of thought, he as it were goes to grass like a horse, and leaves all his harness behind in the stable," (Thoreau). To put it another way, he is saying that a man can have a great deal of information, and think he is ready for the world. However, once he goes out to the “Field of thought”, or in this case, the world, he only has