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Walden. From “Where I Lived and What I Lived For”. Living Deliberately . The reason Thoreau went to live at Walden Pond He felt a need at that time to find the true meaning of life by doing something new and different. “I did not wish to live what was not life”
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Walden From “Where I Lived and What I Lived For”
Living Deliberately • The reason Thoreau went to live at Walden Pond • He felt a need at that time to find the true meaning of life by doing something new and different. • “I did not wish to live what was not life” • Thoreau does not want to get caught up in life’s unimportant details. • He wants to live meaningful life that is stripped of inessentials.
“Our life is frittered away by detail” • What can you do to your life to avoid this? • “Keep your accounts on your thumb nail.” • Simplify your life! • Own and owe so little that you have almost no accounts to keep. • Let go of unimportant things.
Life’s Inessential Details • Usually add to the complexity of life • Examples in Walden • Thoreau mocks those who are reliant on newspapers and letters. • Compares the sightless victim (from the Wachito River) to those whose excessive interest in the printed passing of time blinds them to what is truly important.
From “Conclusion” • “. . . I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there.” What was the reason? • Thoreau left because he thought it was time to do something else with his life. • He felt he had “more lives to live” and believed he was in danger of “easily and insensibly . . . fall[ing] into a particular route.”
What did Thoreau learn from his stay at Walden? • “[I]f one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” • Following your dreams is worthy and reasonable. Why?
Dreams • “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them.” • Dream big and work hard. • Big dreams take time and effort to come true. • Challenge yourself; you’ll stand up to the test. • Do what you need to do to make your dreams come true.