Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

American author, naturalist, and abolitionist, Henry David Thoreau was a principal figure of the 19th century movement of Transcendentalism. Central to the philosophy is a belief that people, who are inherently good, are corrupted by the organized institutions of society and that consequently the best community is one that is built upon on independence and self-reliance. In Thoreau's best known work, Walden we find a classic account of his attempt to live by the principles espoused in this philosophy. Henry David Thoreau spent two years living at Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts, on a woodland property owned by fellow transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson. The story is detailed in its accounts of Thoreau's day-to-day activities, observations, and undertakings to survive out in the wilderness. Thoreau's journal is an exquisite account of a man seeking a more simple life by living in harmony with nature. A journey of self-discovery, Walden is Thoreau's declaration of independence, a manual of self-reliance, for which the author will be forever immortalized. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

Thoreau, Henry David: - Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 - May 6, 1862) was an American essayist, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, yogi, [3] and historian. A leading transcendentalist, [4] Thoreau is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay Civil Disobedience (originally published as Resistance to Civil Government), an argument for disobedience to an unjust state. Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry amount to more than 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions are his writings on natural history and philosophy, in which he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern-day environmentalism. His literary style interweaves close observation of nature, personal experience, pointed rhetoric, symbolic meanings, and historical lore, while displaying a poetic sensibility, philosophical austerity, and Yankee attention to practical detail.[5] He was also deeply interested in the idea of survival in the face of hostile elements, historical change, and natural decay; at the same time he advocated abandoning waste and illusion in order to discover life's true essential needs. He was a lifelong abolitionist, delivering lectures that attacked the Fugitive Slave Law while praising the writings of Wendell Phillips and defending the abolitionist John Brown. Thoreau's philosophy of civil disobedience later influenced the political thoughts and actions of such notable figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. Thoreau is sometimes referred to as an anarchist.[7][8] Though Civil Disobedience seems to call for improving rather than abolishing government-I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government[9]-the direction of this improvement contrarily points toward anarchism: 'That government is best which governs not at all;' and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. Thoreau had a distinctive appearance, with a nose that he called his most prominent feature.[15] Of his appearance and disposition, Ellery Channing wrote: [16] His face, once seen, could not be forgotten. The features were quite marked: the nose aquiline or very Roman, like one of the portraits of Caesar (more like a beak, as was said); large overhanging brows above the deepest set blue eyes that could be seen, in certain lights, and in others gray, -eyes expressive of all shades of feeling, but never weak or near-sighted; the forehead not unusually broad or high, full of concentrated energy and purpose; the mouth with prominent lips, pursed up with meaning and thought when silent, and giving out when open with the most varied and unusual instructive sayings.

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ISBN 13	9781420959611
ISBN 10	1420959611
Title	Walden
Author	Henry David Thoreau
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Digireads.com
Year published	2018-09-24
Number of pages	202
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
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