Born in 1817, Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, historian, and leading transcendentalist. His writings on natural history and philosophy anticipated the methods and findings of later-day ecology and environmental history, two current wellsprings of modern environmentalism.

He is best known for his book “Walden”, a reflection on simple living in natural surroundings — inspired by his 2 year, 2 month & 2 day foray into austerity, living in a self-built cabin constructed on a plot of wilderness land owned by his friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson.

“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.” ~ excerpt from Thoreau’s “Walden”

Thoreau was a lifelong abolitionist, often delivering rousing lectures that denounced the Fugitive Slave Law and/or openly praising the writings of Wendell Phillips or the actions of abolitionists like John Brown.

Thoreau was also renowned for his essay “Resistance to Civil Government” (also known as “Civil Disobedience”), an eloquent call for citizens to openly and peacefully disobey the unjust edicts of state authorities, if not to disobey those states themselves. Thoreau’s philosophy of civil disobedience later influenced the political thoughts and actions of such notable figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mohandas Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor … Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

 

Filed under: In LOVE with Humanity by Scaughdt