American essayist, poet, and practical philosopher Henry David Thoreau is renowned for having lived the
doctrines of Transcendentalism
What was Thoreau’s main idea?
Thoreau’s
Civil Disobedience
espouses the need to prioritize one’s conscience over the dictates of laws. It criticizes American social institutions and policies, most prominently slavery and the Mexican-American War.
What did Thoreau learn?
Henry David Thoreau’s experience at Walden Pond taught him that there are only four necessities for him:
food, shelter, clothing, and fuel
.
What did Thoreau encourage?
Thoreau encouraged
others to assert their individuality
, each in his or her own way. … Thoreau also believed that independent, well-considered action arose naturally from a questing attitude of mind. He was first and foremost an explorer, of both the world around him and the world within him.
What is Thoreau’s theory?
In ‘Resistance to Civil Government’ (1849), Thoreau argued
that people are morally obliged to challenge a government that upholds hypocritical or flagrantly unfair laws
. The American government of Thoreau’s day had, in his view, bullied Mexico into war in 1846 to expand its territory; it also upheld slavery.
Why does Thoreau eventually leave the woods?
The reason he decides to leave is
he felt as he had several more lives to live and could not waste any more time
.
What did Thoreau mean by living deliberately?
Living deliberately means that
you follow a path, but you designed it yourself
. You state where you want to go and develop a strategy to get there.
What according to Thoreau does it take to reawaken and keep ourselves awake?
We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by
an infinite expectation of the dawn
, which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep.
What value does Thoreau feel the news has in the world?
Thoreau’s ultimate point about news consumption involved
balance
—the need to know what’s going on in the wider world while also leaving time to discern the inner world that sustains the mind and spirit.
What does Thoreau value most?
- Fame.
- Love.
- Money.
- Truth.
What makes Thoreau a transcendentalist?
The transcendentalists were heavily influenced by
the European Romantic movement and Eastern religious texts and rituals
. They also firmly believed in the power of intuition over logic, and were fierce advocates of independence and self-sufficiency. These are the foundational characteristics of transcendentalism.
Who bailed out Thoreau?
The poll tax was levied on all men over the age of twenty. Thoreau was finally jailed overnight for this refusal in 1841 but was bailed out by
his relatives
who paid his back taxes for him. From July 4, 1845, to September 6, 1847, Thoreau lived alone at Walden Pond, Massachusetts, on a plot of land owned by Emerson.
What did Thoreau fight for?
Thoreau held deeply felt political views,
opposing slavery and the Mexican-American War
. He made a strong case for acting on one’s individual conscience and not blindly following laws and government policy.
How long did Thoreau live in the woods?
Henry David Thoreau lived for
two years, two months, and two days
by Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. His time in Walden Woods became a model of deliberate and ethical living. His words and deeds continue to inspire millions around the world who seek solutions to critical environmental and societal challenges.
What did Thoreau hope to discover about life by living in the woods?
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
.
What does Thoreau think of most people’s lives?
In Thoreau’s view, what kind of lives do most people live? They
lead lives of quiet desperation
. The first sentence of this excerpt from Walden is a well-known aphorism, or statement commenting on life. “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.
