Through Thoreau’s entire essay, “Reading”, revolves around the idea of reading being the way to immortality. He calls for a new society, one that does not focus on the materialistic things in life, but instead on creating an intellectual human culture. Thoreau believes that neither property nor money are true inheritances, but that “books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.” (82). This passage demonstrates Thoreau’s idea of society’s way of aiming too low, instead of striving to read well. He argues “most men have learned to read to serve a paltry convenience”, in which he describes “convenience” as being materialistic such as money and trade. I believe Thoreau’s idea on reading is correct.