Life Without Principle Analysis

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Idealism has been at the core of Transcendentalism since the movement first arose in the early 19th century. The goal of its beliefs about individualism and spirituality strived to reach the absolute perfect condition; a condition so abstract that the practicality of becoming a pure Transcendentalist was impossible, which was conceded by prominent figures such as Thoreau, Emerson, and Fuller. Thoreau himself devoted his life to try and reach this ideal state and documented his journey to guiding people to a lifestyle that he believed was the best. In one of his essays, “Life Without Principle”, Thoreau asserts that laborers should sustain themselves by the life they live, something beyond simply earning a living and independent of outside influences. …show more content…

Thoreau discusses a situation where he is faced with the opportunity of a well paying job, but his response is different to what typically is expected of a person, saying, “If I do this, most will commend me as an industrious and hard-working man; but if I choose to devote myself to certain labors which yield more real profit, though but little money, they may be inclined to look on me as an idler” (1). The juxtaposition between the well paying job and the low paying job exposes the faults within the former, suggesting that making more money does not equate to “profit” in life, and that happiness and fulfillment does not come from wealth, but the quality of the job itself. Furthermore, this comparison reveals how society looks down upon people who choose not to follow what it values–money–suggesting that people should turn away from the establishment and pursue an individualistic lifestyle. Thoreau’s argument continues to be definitive, and he explicitly states the ideals that he believes everybody must follow, writing aphorisms like: “You must get your living by loving” (3), and “The aim of the laborer should be, not to get his living, to get “a good job,” but to perform well a certain work” (2). In Thoreau’s idealistic world, everybody would be living and working what they are passionate about and naturally good at; this would be his version of a true Transcendentalist society. Thoreau’s argument is that people have an obligation to disconnect from their devotion to money, and instead pursue individualistic passions as the means to living and working a life they

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