Why We Love Henry David Thoreau, in 5 Quotes五句引言揭秘为何人人爱梭罗

Henry David Thoreau is one of America’s most beloved and misunderstood writers. He’s famous for retreating to a rustic cabin at Walden Pond in the Massachusetts woods for two years to ruminate on nature and philosophy， but Thoreau wasn’t a hermit or a cranky misanthrope. He was， in a word， a “questioner，” says Jeffrey S. Cramer， curator of collections at the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods， and author or editor of nearly a dozen books about Thoreau and his Transcendentalist friend Ralph Waldo Emerson.

“Thoreau is constantly asking questions in his own writings， both to himself and to his reader， that make you evaluate your life and how you’re living it，” says Cramer.

Born in 1817 in Concord， Massachusetts， Thoreau never married and worked as a teacher， lecturer， handyman， pencil-maker （his father’s business） and a writer. His best-known works， “Walden” （1854） and “Civil Disobedience” （originally titled “Resistance to Civil Government” in 1849） weren’t bestsellers in his lifetime， but have since become classics of American prose and guidebooks for truth-seekers of all ages.

The few surviving photographs of Thoreau show a dour-looking man with tousled hair and a neck beard， but Cramer says that Thoreau was far from a sourpuss. He had a tremendous sense of humor， was beloved by children for telling wild stories and even played pranks on his buddy Emerson.

If you’re still on the fence about  Thoreau， read the following five quotes that exemplify the straight-talking depth of one of America’s most influential thinkers and writers.

1. “If I am not I， who will be？”

Thoreau was unapologetically true to himself and encouraged others to be. He was very much his own man， uninterested in conforming to the expectations of 19th-century society. Thoreau didn’t care for organized religion or government， and thought that slaving away at a job six days a week just to buy more material possessions was a waste.

Cramer is so moved by this quote that he thinks it should be carved in stone over every schoolhouse in America and recited daily in classrooms.

“Can you imagine how differently every student would feel about who they are？” asks Cramer. “We need to be proud of who we are， whatever that looks like， and live the life that only we are destined to live.”

2. “What does education often do！ It makes a straight-cut ditch of a free meandering brook.”

Thoreau’s first job was as a teacher. He was fired after only a few weeks at the Concord Center School because he refused to use corporal punishment， so Thoreau and his brother John opened their own school. There they experimented with radical ideas for the time， like open dialogue between students and teachers， and experiential learning.

“If you want to learn what a huckleberry is， you don’t sit in a classroom and read a botany book—or have the teacher recite from a botany book that the students then memorize， as they did in those days，” says Cramer. “In Thoreau’s school， you went out to the field， you found huckleberries， you picked huckleberries and you tasted huckleberries.”

Even today， Cramer worries that students have too much of their lives “prescribed” for them by parents and teachers who preach that good grades， the “right” college and a well-paid career is the only recipe for happiness.

“That’s when education becomes this ‘straight-cut ditch’ that Thoreau was talking about，” says Cramer. “It takes a ‘free meandering student’ and puts them on this very narrow path.”

3. “Surely joy is the condition of life.”

“Joy” and “laughter” are not words that come to mind when you think of Henry David Thoreau. But according to Cramer， Thoreau loved to sing， dance and play the flute， and his public lectures literally left people rolling in the aisles.

And although Thoreau wasn’t a churchgoer， he was “religious” in the sense that he saw the divine in everything， especially the natural world. In an essay titled “Walking，” Thoreau laments， “How little appreciation of the beauty of the landscape there is among us！” For Thoreau， watching the leaves change colors in the fall， or gazing at a distant mountain range， inspired a childlike sense of joy that he yearned to share with his readers.

4. “If a man does not keep pace with his companions， perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.”

Thoreau did some of his best thinking when he was off alone in a secluded place like the cabin at Walden Pond. But even during that two-year stint in the woods， he didn’t cut himself off completely from society.

“People have this idea that he went off to the woods and never saw a soul， and that is not the case，” says Cramer. “When he lived at Walden Pond， he was going to town almost daily to visit with friends， to go to the post office， to do various things. And people would visit him at Walden Pond.”

The sociable Thoreau recognized the importance of being your own best companion first， so that when you are alone， says Cramer， “you still have yourself.”

5. “Did ever a man try heroism， magnanimity， truth， sincerity， and find that there was no advantage in them？”

Thoreau was a profoundly principled person who believed in practicing what he preached. He thought that slavery was a despicable practice， for example， so he took his own small stand. During his stay at Walden Pond， he refused to pay a poll tax because it went to a government that supported slavery. He spent a night in jail for his protest and it formed the seed of “Civil Disobedience.”