Day3-4.Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

1. Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher.

   1. He is often mentioned as inspired by Emerson, the most representative of the philosophical and literary school of American Transcendentalism. Thoreau embraced his master’s  ideas as a disciple.

   2. In 1845 he built a cabin on some land belonging to Emerson by Walden Pond and moved in to live there in a straightforward manner for a little over two years, which gave birth to a great Transcendentalist work,“Walden."

2. Thoreau’s masterpiece,“ Walden" , not only fully demonstrates Emersonian ideas of self-reliance but also develops and tests Thoreau' s own transcendental philosophy.

   1. For Thoreau, nature is not merely symbolic, but divine in itself and human beings can receive precise communication from the natural world by way of pure senses. So he was often alone in the woods or by the pond lost in spiritual communion with nature." Walden” is full of eco-wisdom.

3. Thoreau strongly believed in self-culture and was eager to identify himself with the Transcendental image of the self-reliant man.

   1. To achieve personal spiritual perfection, he thinks, the most important thing for men to do with their lives is to be self-sufficient and strive to achieve personal spiritual perfection.So he sought to reduce his physical needs and material comforts to a minimum to get spiritual richness.