Walden or, Life in the Woods (7).

Henry David Thoreau. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc. 1854 (1985).

Why read it? The desire to live close to nature without dependence on material goods. Describes the changing seasons. Offers interesting reflections on modern life.

Quotes and Ideas.

“…for I was rich, if not in money, in sunny hours and summer days, and spent them lavishly.” p. 475.

“Instead of calling on some scholar, I paid many a visit to particular trees….” p. 483.

“[The young man] goes thither to the forest at first as a hunter and fisher, until at last, if he has the seeds of a better life in him, he distinguishes his proper objects, as a poet or naturalist it may be, and leaves the gun and fish-pole behind.” p. 492.

“If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy…that is your success.” p. 495.

“…who does not prefer to be intoxicated by the air he breathes?” p. 495.

“…work earnestly, though it be at cleaning a stable.” p. 498.

“You only need sit still long enough in some attractive spot in the woods that all its inhabitants may exhibit themselves to you by turns.” p. 505.

“Every man looks at his wood-pile with a kind of affection.” p. 522.

“You can always see a face in the fire.” p. 524.

Fire as metaphor: “What but my hopes shot upward e’er so bright/ What but my fortunes sunk so low in night?” p. 525.

To be continued.