Thoreau

 

QUOTES

 

Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.

 

As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our live.

 

Henry David Thoreau

PRESENTATION

Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord Massachusetts in 1817, the son of a pencil maker. He was a graduate of Harvard, a philosopher and a writer known for his critiques of American social institutions and his respect for nature and simple living.

Thoreau was mentored by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who introduced him to trans-cen-dent-alism, a philosophy central to Thoreau's thinking and writing. This philosophy reached its peak in New England in the 1840s and is rooted in the philosophy of Kant. Trans-cen-dent-alists' believe in the inherent goodness of both people and nature and believe that society and its institutions—particularly organized religion and political parties—ultimately corrupt the purity of the individual. They believe that people are at their best when truly "self-reliant" and independent. It is only from such real individuals that true community could be formed.

Emerson argued that people should live their lives based on truths grasped through reason, not just physical perception. People will find truth within themselves; therefore, self-reliance and individuality are critical.

The two major issues being debated in the United States during Thoreau's life were slavery and the Mexican-American War. Both issues are key themes in Thoreau's Civil Disobedience essay that was first published in 1849. Thoreau begins Civil Disobedience by saying that he agrees with the motto, "That government is best which governs least." and that people will someday be able to have a government that does not govern at all. As it is, government rarely proves useful or efficient and no longer represents the will of the people.

Thoreau argues that the enslavement of one sixth of the population and the invasion of Mexico represent tremendous injustices that are unnecessary acts of aggression based on arrogance rather than any philosophically justifiable reasons. He declares, "I cannot for an instant recognize that political organization as my government which is the slave's government also."

He argues that the people must not allow injustices to continue. He asserts that it is more important to develop a respect for the right based on moral principles rather than a respect for civil law. In July of 1846 Thoreau spent one night in jail for refusal to pay his poll tax in protest against slavery and the Mexican War. It was this experience that prompted him to lecture "On the Relation of the Individual to the State." and write the essay on Civil Disobedience which was originally titled "Resistance to Civil Government.”

Thoreau introduces the right of revolution and argues that we not only have the right, but also the duty, to rebel. It is the obligation of the people to do what is right and take action. Although Thoreau asserts that people have other, higher duties than eradicating institutional wrong, we must not be guilty through compliance.

Thoreau comments on the corrupting influence of money and property, and urges a simple, self-reliant lifestyle as a means of maintaining individual freedom. Thoreau denies that his aim is to abolish government, he states that he simply wants a better government. Thoreau argues that by answering to the majority democracies are answering to the will of the strongest group, not the most virtuous or thoughtful. Individual conscience should rule instead. There will never be a "really free and enlightened State" until the state recognizes the individual.

Thoreau contracted TB in 1835 and on his death bed his aunt asked him he had made his peace with God, Thoreau responded: "I did not know we had ever quarreled." He died on May 6, 1862 at age 44 his last words were “now comes smooth sailing.”

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.