Henry David Thoreau on Simple Living

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.¹

Henry David Thoreau (1817-62) published Walden, a series of 18 essays, in 1854. Thoreau’s core themes include individualism, transcendentalism, a critique of materialism, and the importance of nature:

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.²

Thoreau wrote of solitude, and his fondness for it. For Thoreau feeling lonely and being alone were seperate. He exemplifies that a diligent student at crowded Cambridge College is as alone as a dervis (a member of an ascetic Muslim sect) in the desert.³ Thus, an individual in solitude is not necessarily lonely, for loneliness is a state of mind, whereas being alone is of the physical space between people. Thoreau, not surprisingly, enjoyed his solitude. He writes: "I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time."

Thoreau wrote of luxury, excess, and its counterpart: simplicity. "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."⁴ People work to afford luxuries that ultimately do not bring true happiness. And at times, these luxuries can be an enemy of happiness. Thoreau proposes that, by simplifying one’s desires, one can reduce the need for labor and focus on more meaningful pursuits. He wrote: "Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!"⁵

What are these meaningful pursuits? For Thoreau, a connection with nature is essential. It offers a space for contemplation, an understanding for oneself and of the world. Through nature one can discover the core of existence, something valuable to Thoreau. But perhaps most important of all, is to live deliberately. Make conscious and thoughtful choices rather than conforming to societal norms or rushing through life without reflection.

Furthermore, Thoreau wrote of individualism and finding ones own path: "I would have each one be very careful to find out and pursue his own way, and not his father's or his mother's or his neighbor's instead."⁶ Similarly, he writes: "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer."⁷

If these ideas expressed by Thoreau interest you, I would strongly recommend reading Walden. As luck would have it, since his work is no longer tainted by copyright, it is available for free at, for example, Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/205/205-h/205-h.htm