The quote ¨our lives are frittered away by detail¨ is a quote that can have a few different meanings, but in itself applies to almost everyone. It can mean that simplicity is the key to experiencing more of our lives. It could mean we spend too much time worrying about small details of things when we should really focus on the big picture. It could also mean that if we stopped caring about small and meaningless details, we would experience life more fully and not get distracted from our own happiness. Perhaps all of these meanings are true and were meant to be conveyed by this quote.
In Walden, Thoreau wrote about simplicity. He simplified his life to such an extent that there were no details to ¨fritter¨ away his life. All he had to do was
take it all in. He got to see the big picture of everything, and of his own life. Maybe this is where the quote originates from- Thoreau’s experience with simplicity and the absence of life-frittering details. The entirety of his life was in front of him and there was nothing to worry about, only a life to experience. And that’s exactly what he did. In my own life, this quote applies in many ways. I noticed that I do spend a lot of time worrying about small and unimportant things, and not focusing on what is really important. For example, like many people, I spend a lot of time on my phone or on the internet- distracting me from my own life and ¨frittering¨ it away, in a sense. It keeps me from experience what there really is to life, and from looking at everything as a whole. We get far too immersed in our own lives and fail to see that small things are never as important as they seem- and this is what we waste our precious time on Earth worrying about. If we could all take a step back, to see how everything fits into everything else, how the little problems don’t actually matter, happiness would be much easier for all of us to achieve. We could truly experience our lives as they were meant to be experienced- not day to day, but as a whole.
In his essay, “The Evolution of Simplicity,” American conservative political and cultural commentator David Brooks examines the modern obsession with the simplification of life. His essay hints at man’s tendency to overcomplicate various aspects of day-to-day activities and failure to appreciate life for its true beauty. Brooks warns that this over complication of the nation can leave us swamped with stress and spread to thin, spending too much of our energy and focus on unimportant and virtually irrelevant facets of our existence.
Both Thoreau and McCandless were against materialism. Thoreau feels that “Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind” (Thoreau, Walden 28). He thinks that dependance of worldly possessions hidera ones chance of finding their true self. McCandless had a similar mentality, and acted upon that belief. An example of this is when “…he saw the flash flood as an opportunity to shed unnecessary baggage. He concealed the car as best he could beneath a brown tarp, stripped it of its Virginia plates, and hid them” (Krakauer 29). McCandless was not tied to his own possessions, he was happy to leave them in the middle of no where. Through reduction of worldly possessions and materials, the message that both McCandless and Thoreau throw at the readers is to have a simplistic life without the concerns coming from worldly possessions. These possessions deter one from the true meaning of life.
“Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!” once stated by Thoreau. Henry David Thoreau was a simple man with a simple life. He yearned for simplicity. He was a very wise man as well. In his piece of writing “ Where I Lived and What I Lived For” Thoreau explains a life of simplicity separated from the complexity of society. In “Where I Live and What I lived For” Thoreau most effectively appeals to pathos through the use of allusion, similes, and imagery.
Thoreau went into the woods for many different reasons than McCandless. He decided to live in the woods so he could live deliberately. He desired to learn what life had to teach him and face only the essential facts of life without any other distractions. Going into the woods, would let him know that he had lived, so when he died, he wouldn’t regret never fully living. He wanted to figure out if this life in nature was mean or sublime. If it was mean, he hoped to publish his findings to the world, but if it was sublime, he would just know this knowledge and use it for his next excursion. Thoreau heavily believed in simplicity. He felt everything should be simplified, and that people were squandered by details. As he said, “ Simplicity, simplicity,
. ." (lines 5-7). In this, he tries to begin to explain that in order to truly live the fullest life possible, one must live simply; literally "driv[ing] life into a corner, and reduc[ing] it to its lowest terms" is the only way to achieve fullness. Later, he also states: "Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off the track by every nutshell and mosquito’s wing that falls on the rails. Let us rise early and fast, or break fast, gently and without [disturbance]; let company come and let company go, let the bells ring and the children cry. . ." (lines 13-16). In this, he expresses that one should not let the daily disturbances of life affect oneself. Life should be lived with litle disturbance, and even such disturbances should not be taken as seriously. In choosing to give examples, he shows just how many things go on that one can be pestered with, and that one should choose to ignore them and let them pass by. He also states: "Let us settle ourselves, and work and wedge our feet downward through the mud
To conclude, Thoreau believed that people should be ruled by conscience and that people should fight against injustice through non-violence according to “Civil Disobedience.” Besides, he believed that we should simplify our lives and take some time to learn our essence in the nature. Moreover, he deemed that tradition and money were unimportant as he demonstrated in his book, Walden. I suggested that people should learn from Thoreau to live deliberately and spend more time to go to the nature instead of watching television, playing computer games, and among other things, such that we could discover who we were and be endeavored to build foundations on our dreams.
Thoreau distinguishes what he wishes his life was; he compares what he wants out of life to what he currently has. He says “I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary.” He makes note of how dear and important life is, and how he wishes to live in a way which he hadn’t been before, by making the most out of the life he has left.
In my opinion, Walden, or Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau is an excellent example of a Romantic point of view. Thoreau successfully conveys his Romantic ideas through his literature, and makes clear where he stands.
Why do so few Americans not see all of the problems in society? Do they simply not care or are they not able to see them? With Thoreau's statement, "To be awake is to be alive", he implies that Americans have their eyes closed to these issues. They do not choose to overlook these issues but they simply pass them by because their eyes are shut. Some people are not able to grasp the concept in Thoreau's statement and find it to be foreign or subversive because it threatens the way the see the world.
When thinking about the transcendental period and/or about individuals reaching out and submerging themselves in nature, Henry David Thoreau and his book, Walden, are the first things that come to mind. Unknown to many, there are plenty of people who have braved the environment and called it their home during the past twenty years, for example: Chris McCandless and Richard Proenneke. Before diving into who the “modern Thoreaus” are, one must venture back and explore the footprint created by Henry Thoreau.
Have you ever woke up in the morning and asked yourself, “Why am I living this life?” Throughout the book of Walden, Henry David Thoreau questions the lifestyles that people choose; he makes his readers wonder if they have chosen the kind of lifestyle that give them the greatest amount of happiness. Thoreau stated, “Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them().” This quote is important because most of society these days are so caught up in work and trying to make ends meet that they lose the values in life. Thoreau was forced to change his life when he found himself unhappy after a purchase for a farm fell through. On Thoreau’s journey he moves to Walden and builds a house and life from nothing but hard work, symbolizes many different objects.
According to the statement, “Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate,” Thoreau believes that the basis for the success of any person is his/her own individual opinion of himself/herself. Thoreau is the perfect example of his own opinion, based on his time spent living a simple life at Walden Pond. The public had varied opinions of Thoreau’s lifestyle, and Thoreau even addresses some critics in his essay. However, Thoreau himself was very content with his lifestyle, and he believed that his simple lifestyle was far superior compared to the seemingly luxurious lifestyle of men, who actually are in debt and bound to a la...
that every person can live a simple life. When he begins his stay at Walden
Behaviorism is a philosophy of psychology that concerns itself on behavior and actions of people acquired through conditioning. It is observable and can be caged by changing instances of reward and punishment. B.F. Skinner, man with many ideas, worked to become a leader of the behaviorist society. He presented the way of thinking that political action being avoidable, and human knowledge and behavior being important to a new revolution. In Skinner’s novel, “Walden Two”, he expresses his ideas about a utopian society. Utopia is a society that is perfect and ideal. Utopia is a perfect world. In utopias, problems such war, racism, diseases, poverty, oppressions, discrimination, inequality, and so forth do not exist. The word 'utopia' was made up from Greek roots by Sir Thomas More. In 1516, More wrote a book called Utopia. Depending on the Greek roots used, utopia can either mean 'no place' or 'good place In Walden Two,
Thoreau lived on his own for two years and was able to make some observations and conclusions that a lot of people in society may not have been