Henry David Thoreau - Important Insights from Walden

Living in accordance with the insights presented by Henry David Thoreau is easier said than done. I believe however, that the most important lesson that we can take away from reading Thoreau is that we should focus on the true priorities in life: “Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Turn the old; return to them. Things do not change: we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. God will see that you do not want society. If I were confined to a corner of a garret all my days, like a spider, the world would be just as large to me while I had my thoughts about me.” (p.290)

If you want something, consider why you want it. Do you merely want to ‘follow the fashion set by the luxurious?’ At the same time, we should not always conform to society, according to Thoreau, in particular by simplifying our lives and thereby ending our endless circle of meaningless consumption. True, happiness, according to Thoreau is, instead, found through exploration and taking one’s life as it is. This can be done regardless of how rich or how poor one is.

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