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Economy When I wrote the following pages, or rather the bulk of them, I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself, on the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, and earned my living by the labor of my hands only. I lived there two years and two months. At present I am a sojourner in civilized life again. I should not obtrude my affairs so much on the notice of my readers if very particular inquiries had not been made by my townsmen concerning my mode of life, which some would call impertinent, though they do not appear to me at all impertinent, but, considering the circumstances, very natural and pertinent. Some have asked what I got to eat; if I did not feel lonesome; if I was not afraid; and the like. Others have been curious to learn what portion of my income I devoted to charitable purposes; and some, who have large families, how many poor children I maintained. I will therefore ask those of my readers who feel no particular interest in me to pardon me if I undertake to answer some of these questions in this book. In most books, the I, or first person, is omitted; in this it will be retained; that, in respect to egotism, is the main difference. We commonly do not remember that it is, after all, always the first person that is speaking. I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew as well. Unfortunately, I am confined to this theme by the narrowness of my experience. Moreover, I, on my side, require of every writer, first or last, a simple and sincere account of his own life, and not merely what he has heard of other men's lives; some such account as he would send to his kindred from a distant land; for if he has lived sincerely, it must have been in a distant land to me. Perhaps these pages are more particularly addressed to poor students. As for the rest of my readers, they will accept such portions as apply to them. I trust that none will stretch the seams in putting on the coat, for it may do good service to him whom it fits.... Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau) is a philosopher, naturalist and American poet, born July 12, 1817 in Concord (Massachusetts), where he died May 6, 1862. His masterpiece, Walden, or Life in the woods, is a reflection on the economy, nature and the simple life lived apart from society, written during a retreat in a cabin he had built on the edge of a lake. His essay Civil Disobedience, reflecting a personal opposition to the slave of the time authorities inspired collective action by Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. against racial segregation. Thoreau abhors black slavery, which demonstrates that Christianity officially prevails is only superstition, and that politicians are not motivated by "higher law." He envisions a moral reform of society through non-cooperation with injustice governments, as advocated by his contemporary abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, but it almost always stays away from any activity and social organization whatsoever. After the failed attempt of John Brown to initiate an insurrection in favor of abolition, Thoreau considered a savior and publicly expressed his support. It is found at the end of his life, at the dawn of the American Civil War, in agreement with public opinion increasingly common that was beginning to believe in the abolition of slavery by force gross, without getting involved as far more itself1. Nicknamed the "poet-naturalist" by his friend William Ellery Channing (en) (1818-1901), Thoreau is fascinated by natural phenomena and life forms, particularly botany, and he wrote in his diary, covering more 'twenty years, his detailed observations and personal feelings they give birth in him. He adopted an approach over the years more and more systematic, scientific, and one who was a surveyor at times could also invent a little, forestry and ecology. Love and respect for nature.
