I think that Thoreau means when he says, "The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels?" is that people are too often stuck in reality. I believe that he is trying to say that individuals need to be themselves and stop worrying about what society thinks of them. Thoreau is telling people to make their own paths of life and strive on what they think is true and base their live on their own hopes and dreams. Henry David Thoreau’s message in the final paragraph is stating that our lives are based off of perspective. Everything we see is through the idea of perspective.
We have little time on earth and it goes by so fast, Living a good life doesn 't have to be measured on how long you live, but what you do during the time you 're on earth fulfilling your dreams, hopes, and self-meaning accomplishments. Henry David Thoreau once stated “ most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them “.His quote is relevant, it can be said he based it on his era, yet it still applies to today 's day in age. These are people who will never really understand themselves until it’s too late and untill they come to an end in their lives. People don 't stand up to a cause until it 's too late.
One of Thoreau’s basic ideas Socrates would agree with is that a man should always take actions which his conscience deems righteous regardless of the magnitude of their consequences. In Apology, Socrates showed no remorse that his deeds have put him on a trial because he believed that a wise man who knows that he has done nothing wrong should not fear death itself. He would certainly agree with Henry Thoreau who wrote in his essay, “Civil Disobedience”, that it is way more important to seek justice in this world than respect the laws which a man earnestly condemns. Thoreau discussed the unpopularity people possess for the men who act according to their own values and Socrates claimed to be one of these men as he refused to defy his morals
Kaitlyn Rodriguez Mr. Cedeño U.S. History F Block 12/7/14 Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau was an america author and naturalist and is considered to be one of the most influential figures in American history and literature.
Henry Thoreau was a simple man who believed in simple living. Thoreau would probably turn circles in his grave if he was to realize how technical the world has become. Two reasons that made Thoreau particularly suspicious of technology were (1) that we have to spend time working to afford the technology, so why not be without technology and more free time, and (2) that technology distances us from nature and can affect our lives for the worse. Sure there is some sense in his beliefs, but technology does too much good to just completely abandon it. Many believe that our desire to live a lifestyle full of technology leaves a wave of materialism to sweep through our nation.
People may learn a lot from society today, but there are always things that no one really can learn without the help from nature. Transcendentalists use nature to learn life a lot. One famous Transcendentalists wrote many stories about nature. One of these stories being The Pond in Winter does talk about a pond in the winter season, but this story has more meaning that just a pond in winter. There are many things that anyone can find in nature, which mean that there is always life to learn from nature.
Individuals lay the foundation of America. The Founding Fathers of this unique nation broke their allegiance with Great Britain to create an improved governing body. They desired an individual-centered authority as opposed to Britain’s monarchy, which ruled with tyranny. These Founding Fathers experienced a neglectful democratic monarchy that cared little about the ethical treatment of its people. The domineering actions of Britain challenged these historic individuals to form a new cultural identity.
Civil Disobedience I hereby say that student loans is something that should not be dragging educated people down. We cannot allow the for-profit colleges and the banks to follow behind students and collect their wealth. “Everyone deserves a quality education. We need to come up with a better way to provide it than debt and default”(Taylor). Education should not vanish.
From these readings I have found that John Muir and Henry David Thoreau have many of the same notions about nature and the American frontier. Both viewed nature as a defined space, completely separated from civil society, a place in which “a man can be a man.” For Muir it seemed that nature was very much a sacred space and loved to idealize nature as a sort of heaven on earth. I think one of the biggest things I realized through these readings is that Muir and Thoreau both emphasized the difference, physically and mentally, between nature and urbanization. It is this idea that Americans now live on, I believe that people now think of nature and urban areas as entirely separate entities and in doing so, make nature into a sort of place to visit but never stay.
To live deliberately is for a person to live to the full potential of the life they have been given. Thoreau believed to live was to discover the simplistics of life, he had moved to the woods for two years to experience his own definition of a “real life” opportunity before his death. Thoreau demonstrated his transcendentalistic ideas through many things but this will focus more on his essay Walden. “An honest man has hardly need to count more than his ten fingers, or in extreme cases he may add his ten toes, and lump the rest.” (Thoreau)
To Kill a Mockingbird is a world renowned book that is loved through the ages. The book carries many themes from racism to prejudice. Some people believe that TKaM doesn’t fit into today's society because it is very old, dating back to the mid 60’s. I think a novel is still relevant if the reader connects today’s society with the plot and characters of the book. In that case, To Kill a Mockingbird is still relevant in today's culture because there is prejudice with different races, people are still stereotyped and labeled, and children learn the responsibilities of a person who came of age.
Henry David Thoreau begins his essay Resistance to Civil Government, also known as Civil Disobedience, by stating that governing forces rarely demonstrates itself as useful and that they obtain power from the majority of people simply because the majority is the strongest group, not because their viewpoint is the most reasonable. Thoreau argues that government only exists for the sole purpose of guaranteeing freedom for individuals. He states that he simply wishes for a better government, not to abolish it. The rule of expediency, in Thoreau’s case, can be defined as government officials putting themselves before citizens so that they themselves can be more practical and convenient. Thoreau believes the rule of expediency is an unsatisfactory
The reason why Thoreau wrote this section of the Civil Disobedience is because Thoreau believes that a person must stand on what they think is right. Example is when Thoreau states that the only obligation that he has is to do at any time what he thinks is right also saying that he thinks that a person must be a man first then become a subject. But the most important thing that Thoreau did to support his ideas was to protest the Mexican American war by not paying his taxes. He did what he thought was right he stood by his word. His protest didn't stop the war but it had more of a symbolistic impact.
Henry David Thoreau is one of the primary promoters of the transcendentalist movement and has been inspiring people to take on the transcendentalist lifestyle ever since the mid 1800’s. Mccandless was an admirer of Henry’s philosophy but he wasn’t as fully immersed in his work and ideals as Thoreau was to his own. His intentions were not as closely aligned to the movement as Thoreau’s and the difference between these icons are clearly visible. Self reliance is one of the most significant components of the transcendentalism movement that Henry David Thoreau contributed to in his literary career. “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.” - (taken from Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden”).
Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau both fond nature to be essential to being a whole person: spiritually and emotionally. Emerson saw nature’s effect on people and their thoughts, whereas Thoreau saw the deliberateness of nature and thought that if people could seize the same decisiveness that they would have more to enjoy in life. Both authors believed that humans needed to enjoy nature to be one with the universal being that is the basis of Transcendentalism. Emerson wrote “When we speak of nature in this manner, we have a distinct but most poetical sense in the mind.” (Nature 693) Emerson was saying that nature is similar to poetry for the mind, in that it is relaxing and wholesome.
