Walking
by Henry David Thoreau
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If you are ready to leave father and mother, and brother and sister, and wife and child and friends, and never see them again, - if you have paid your debts, and made your will, and settled all your affairs, and are a free man, then you are ready for a walk.Walking is an essay by American writer, naturalist and philosopher David Thoreau (1817 - 1862). Thoreau's work has made a lasting contribution to modern environmental practice, and also influenced the non-violent resistance practiced by show more great civilians such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
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Thoreau wrote this essay as a speech, one that he gave a number of times. The piece was published in the Atlantic magazine following his death in 1962. Over the years, I’ve read and enjoyed it several times.
Nowadays, most of my walking is around the streets and through a cemetery of a small town in northern California, and not in the woods of my native Vermont. I love the way walking allows and stimulates your mind to wander much farther than your feet.
With this reading, I found myself more critical of his language and focus. Thoreau writes about absolute freedom and wilderness, and writes much about land ownership. The language of the period, his historical tangents, along with his focus, simply didn’t feel right or of interest show more to me at this time.
Thinking about my reading experience as I was going through it was very curious, but never a good sign. My concentration or engagement with Thoreau’s words was too distant. I’m afraid if anyone was looking for a structured review of Thoreau’s essay, I’ve got nothing to offer at this time. It’s another example of a reading experience being about where your mind is at the time, and not just the power of the words on the page. Some day, I may come back to Walking and have an entirely different experience, one can never know. show less
Nowadays, most of my walking is around the streets and through a cemetery of a small town in northern California, and not in the woods of my native Vermont. I love the way walking allows and stimulates your mind to wander much farther than your feet.
With this reading, I found myself more critical of his language and focus. Thoreau writes about absolute freedom and wilderness, and writes much about land ownership. The language of the period, his historical tangents, along with his focus, simply didn’t feel right or of interest show more to me at this time.
Thinking about my reading experience as I was going through it was very curious, but never a good sign. My concentration or engagement with Thoreau’s words was too distant. I’m afraid if anyone was looking for a structured review of Thoreau’s essay, I’ve got nothing to offer at this time. It’s another example of a reading experience being about where your mind is at the time, and not just the power of the words on the page. Some day, I may come back to Walking and have an entirely different experience, one can never know. show less
An absolutely elegant and beautiful piece of writing. Thoreau soars and astounds with his mesmerizing prose that touches on many different themes seamlessly, yet inclusively-- privately. This is not one to be mixed.
Recommended.
Recommended.
I picked this little book up the other day with reason. Recently I read Gros' A Philosophy of Walking which associated walking with creative thinking and returning to nature. Living in the outskirts of Dallas I figured I should give it a try. I usually travel by bicycle, but recently had my doubts about of its value over my life and limb. Last month a car, which was behind me, ran a stop sign and ran over the rear end of my bike, with me on it. A few weeks later an angry driver ran a stop sign, almost hit me, then turned around and chased me. The police are not much help in matters. Their main job it appears is writing reports for insurance companies rather than law enforcement. Two close calls last night have convinced me that I need show more to do something else.
Last week I started walking to work. It is five miles each way and allows me to listen to audiobooks on the way. I can manage to make a good deal of the trip on green strips and small parks. Walking distance is quite a bit shorter than the riding distance but still take over twice as long. Like Thorough mentions walking does separate you from "civilization" and although I am not walking through meadows and forests I see where he is coming from. It is different, less rushed, less crowded. It is something that people have forgotten. I gotten the "Oh, my God you are walking to work... do you need a ride?" No, that would defeat the purpose. People consider walking today a punishment.
Thoreau captures the essence of the individual and nature:
Every sunset which I witness inspires me with the desire to go West a distant and as fair as that into which the sun goes down.
and the irony of especially today's need a gym crowd:
Think of a man's swinging dumbbells for his health, when springs are bubbling up in far-off pastures unsought by him.
and something I witness everyday
Nowadays almost all man's improvements, so called, as the building of houses and the cutting down of the forests and of all the large trees, simply deform the landscape, and male it more and more tame and cheap.
Thoreau through a variety of observations, and sometimes a little humor makes his point very clear. Today the message is even clearer. We need a connection to the outdoors, nature, and our own senses; yet, we at every turn do our best to isolate ourselves from the natural environment and force ourselves to adapt to an artificial environment where stimulation by nature has been replaced by consumerism and electronics. We want virtual reality and lifelike special effects, while ignoring, except to destroy, the nature around us. show less
Last week I started walking to work. It is five miles each way and allows me to listen to audiobooks on the way. I can manage to make a good deal of the trip on green strips and small parks. Walking distance is quite a bit shorter than the riding distance but still take over twice as long. Like Thorough mentions walking does separate you from "civilization" and although I am not walking through meadows and forests I see where he is coming from. It is different, less rushed, less crowded. It is something that people have forgotten. I gotten the "Oh, my God you are walking to work... do you need a ride?" No, that would defeat the purpose. People consider walking today a punishment.
Thoreau captures the essence of the individual and nature:
Every sunset which I witness inspires me with the desire to go West a distant and as fair as that into which the sun goes down.
and the irony of especially today's need a gym crowd:
Think of a man's swinging dumbbells for his health, when springs are bubbling up in far-off pastures unsought by him.
and something I witness everyday
Nowadays almost all man's improvements, so called, as the building of houses and the cutting down of the forests and of all the large trees, simply deform the landscape, and male it more and more tame and cheap.
Thoreau through a variety of observations, and sometimes a little humor makes his point very clear. Today the message is even clearer. We need a connection to the outdoors, nature, and our own senses; yet, we at every turn do our best to isolate ourselves from the natural environment and force ourselves to adapt to an artificial environment where stimulation by nature has been replaced by consumerism and electronics. We want virtual reality and lifelike special effects, while ignoring, except to destroy, the nature around us. show less
This was my second reading of "Walking" and, this time, I chose to read it in nature. That really made all the difference. I found myself hating it this last fall when I read it in the confines of my tiny little room. Surrounding myself in nature and allowing myself to annotate in the margins made me feel like Thoreau and I were on our own walk, having a conversation. Just like any long conversation there were moments I began to zone out and think about other things but overall it is a wonderful read and an experience I will probably have again.
Thoreau begins this extended essay by describing the joy he feels from the long walks he takes. He then says that he derives the most pleasure from his walks in the wilderness which leads to a long panegyric on how wonderful the wilderness is in the Americas versus Europe. Although his essay is highly regarded, I personally found it to be shallow and suspect him of a certain degree of hypocrisy.
I obtained this book or essay from the library as an e-book since it couldn’t provide me with a physical book, or a real book, as I call it.
When I’d printed it out it proved to have no page numbers and unfortunately I couldn’t find out the proper order of the pages so I had to read the book haphazardly; but this did not detract from my appreciation of it.
The book was published back in 1862 and I found the wonderful, rich elegance of the writing so refreshing.
Thoreau was a cultured man, as writers of those days were so he quotes other illustrious authors, also in Latin.
The book deals with the art of writing, Nature, Freedom and Wildness. Thoreau refers to “saunterers”; in the Middle Ages those who walked to the Holy Land were show more referred to as “Sainte-Terrers”, saunterers or Holy-Landers; though he explains that “saunterer” could also have been derived from the phrase “sans terre”, without land or home, or having no particular home.
He prefers the first derivation, however, since “every walk is a sort of crusade, preached by some Peter the Hermit in us, to go forth, and reconquer this Holy Land from the hands of the Infidels”.
He states: “If you are ready to leave father and mother, and brother and sister, and wife and child and friends, and never see them again, - if you have paid your debts, and made your will, and settled all your affairs, and are a free man; then you are ready for a walk.”
(Sadly, one of the drawbacks of writers from former centuries is the assumption that only one gender exists, the male gender. One would think that women don’t ever take walks and don’t even exist. Luckily, things are changing now!)
Thoreau informs us that he can easily walk any number of miles without going by any house or crossing a road, but sometimes he finds that his body is in the woods but he is “thinking of something out of the woods”.
He says cutting down the forest deforms the landscape and makes it more and more “tame and cheap”.
He and his companion, which he sometimes has, fancy themselves as “Walkers” or “Walkers Errant”. The Walker Errant is a “sort of fourth estate, outside of Church and State and People”.
“It requires a direct dispensation from Heaven to become a walker. You must be born into the family of the Walkers.”
He feels that he cannot preserve his health and spirits, unless he spends four hours a day, at least, sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, “absolutely free from all worldly engagements”.
When he goes for a walk, he inevitably decides to walk south-west. “The future lies that way to me, and the earth seems more unexhausted and richer on that side.”
“We go eastward to realize history and study the works of art and literature – we go westward as into the future, with a spirit of enterprise and adventure.”
The author states: “The West of which I speak is but another name for the Wild – in Wildness is the preservation of the World.”
He believes in the forest, and in the meadow. “How near to good is what is wild.” The most alive is the Wildness, not yet subdued by man. “I derive more of my subsistence from the swamps which surround my native town than from the cultivated gardens in the village.”
He tells us that we cannot afford not to live in the present. “He is blessed over all mortals who loses no moment of the passing life in remembering the past.” He talks of “the gospel according to this moment”.
He rejoices that horses and steers have to be broken before they can be made “the slaves of men, and that men themselves have some wild oats still left to sow before they become submissive members of society”.
“I would not have every man nor every part of a man cultivated, any more than I would have every acre cultivated.”
He argues the value of ignorance – there is need for a Society for the Diffusion of Useful Ignorance. A man’s ignorance sometimes is not only useful but beautiful, while his so-called knowledge is often worse than useless.
Who is the best man to deal with – the man who knows nothing about a subject and knows that he knows nothing, or the one who knows something but thinks that he knows it all?
The highest that we can attain to is not knowledge, but “Sympathy with Intelligence”.
He complains how little appreciation of the landscape there is among us.
To sum up, this little book is a eulogization not only to walking but to the wondrousness of Nature. Wildness and Freedom. Thoreau’s rich style, the like of which is unseen in modern writing, is an inspiration in itself. show less
When I’d printed it out it proved to have no page numbers and unfortunately I couldn’t find out the proper order of the pages so I had to read the book haphazardly; but this did not detract from my appreciation of it.
The book was published back in 1862 and I found the wonderful, rich elegance of the writing so refreshing.
Thoreau was a cultured man, as writers of those days were so he quotes other illustrious authors, also in Latin.
The book deals with the art of writing, Nature, Freedom and Wildness. Thoreau refers to “saunterers”; in the Middle Ages those who walked to the Holy Land were show more referred to as “Sainte-Terrers”, saunterers or Holy-Landers; though he explains that “saunterer” could also have been derived from the phrase “sans terre”, without land or home, or having no particular home.
He prefers the first derivation, however, since “every walk is a sort of crusade, preached by some Peter the Hermit in us, to go forth, and reconquer this Holy Land from the hands of the Infidels”.
He states: “If you are ready to leave father and mother, and brother and sister, and wife and child and friends, and never see them again, - if you have paid your debts, and made your will, and settled all your affairs, and are a free man; then you are ready for a walk.”
(Sadly, one of the drawbacks of writers from former centuries is the assumption that only one gender exists, the male gender. One would think that women don’t ever take walks and don’t even exist. Luckily, things are changing now!)
Thoreau informs us that he can easily walk any number of miles without going by any house or crossing a road, but sometimes he finds that his body is in the woods but he is “thinking of something out of the woods”.
He says cutting down the forest deforms the landscape and makes it more and more “tame and cheap”.
He and his companion, which he sometimes has, fancy themselves as “Walkers” or “Walkers Errant”. The Walker Errant is a “sort of fourth estate, outside of Church and State and People”.
“It requires a direct dispensation from Heaven to become a walker. You must be born into the family of the Walkers.”
He feels that he cannot preserve his health and spirits, unless he spends four hours a day, at least, sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, “absolutely free from all worldly engagements”.
When he goes for a walk, he inevitably decides to walk south-west. “The future lies that way to me, and the earth seems more unexhausted and richer on that side.”
“We go eastward to realize history and study the works of art and literature – we go westward as into the future, with a spirit of enterprise and adventure.”
The author states: “The West of which I speak is but another name for the Wild – in Wildness is the preservation of the World.”
He believes in the forest, and in the meadow. “How near to good is what is wild.” The most alive is the Wildness, not yet subdued by man. “I derive more of my subsistence from the swamps which surround my native town than from the cultivated gardens in the village.”
He tells us that we cannot afford not to live in the present. “He is blessed over all mortals who loses no moment of the passing life in remembering the past.” He talks of “the gospel according to this moment”.
He rejoices that horses and steers have to be broken before they can be made “the slaves of men, and that men themselves have some wild oats still left to sow before they become submissive members of society”.
“I would not have every man nor every part of a man cultivated, any more than I would have every acre cultivated.”
He argues the value of ignorance – there is need for a Society for the Diffusion of Useful Ignorance. A man’s ignorance sometimes is not only useful but beautiful, while his so-called knowledge is often worse than useless.
Who is the best man to deal with – the man who knows nothing about a subject and knows that he knows nothing, or the one who knows something but thinks that he knows it all?
The highest that we can attain to is not knowledge, but “Sympathy with Intelligence”.
He complains how little appreciation of the landscape there is among us.
To sum up, this little book is a eulogization not only to walking but to the wondrousness of Nature. Wildness and Freedom. Thoreau’s rich style, the like of which is unseen in modern writing, is an inspiration in itself. show less
According to Thoreau, there's an art to walking. Essentially, it's being home yet not having a home; being on a pilgrimage, yet idling. And since this is Thoreau, he ties his favorite hobby to environmental nature, and then to human nature.
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In September 1842, Nathaniel Hawthorne noted this social encounter in his journal: "Mr. Thorow dined with us yesterday. He is a singular character---a young man with much of wild original nature still remaining in him; and so far as he is sophisticated, it is in a way and method of his own. He is as ugly as sin, long-nosed, queer-mouthed, and with show more uncouth and somewhat rustic, although courteous manners, corresponding very well with such an exterior. But his ugliness is of an honest and agreeable fashion, and becomes him much better than beauty. On the whole, I find him a healthy and wholesome man to know." Most responses to Thoreau are as ambiguously respectful as was Hawthorne's. Thoreau was neither an easy person to like nor an easy writer to read. Thoreau described himself as a mystic, a Transcendentalist, and a natural philosopher. He is a writer of essays about nature---not of facts about it but of his ideals and emotions in its presence. His wish to understand nature led him to Walden Pond, where he lived from 1845 to 1847 in a cabin that he built. Though he was an educated man with a Harvard degree, fluent in ancient and modern German, he preferred to study nature by living "a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust." Knowing this, we should beware of misreading the book that best reflected this great experience in Thoreau's life: Walden; or, Life in the Woods (1854). It is not a handbook of the simple life. Though there are elements in the book of a "whole-earth catalogue" mentality, to focus on the radical "economic" aspects of Thoreau's work is to miss much in the book. Nor is it an autobiography. The right way to read Walden is as a "transcendental" narrative prose poem, whose hero is a man named Henry, a modern Odysseus in search of a "true America." Thoreau left Walden Pond on September 6, 1846, exactly two years, two months, and two days after he had settled there. As he explained in the pages of Walden: "I left the woods for as good a reason as I went to live there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one." Growth, change, and development were essential to his character. One should not overlook the significance of his selecting July 4 as the day for taking possession of his residence at Walden Pond, a day that celebrates the establishment of a new government whose highest ideal is individual freedom. In terms of Thoreau's redefinition of the nation-idea, "the only true America" is that place where one may grow wild according to one's nature, where one may "enjoy the land, but own it not." Thoreau believed that each person should live according to individual conscience, willing to oppose the majority if necessary. An early proponent of nonviolent resistance, he was jailed briefly for refusing to pay his poll tax to support the Mexican War and the slave system that had promoted that war. His essay "On Civil Disobedience" (1849), which came from this period of passive resistance, was acknowledged by Mahatma Gandhi (who read it in a South African jail) as the basis for his campaign to free India. Martin Luther King, Jr. later attributed to Thoreau and Gandhi the inspiration for his leadership in the civil rights movement in the United States. Thoreau contracted tuberculosis in 1835 and suffered from it sporadically afterwards. His health declined over three years with brief periods of remission, until he eventually became bedridden. Recognizing the terminal nature of his disease, Thoreau spent his last years revising and editing his unpublished works, particularly The Maine Woods and Excursions, and petitioning publishers to print revised editions of A Week and Walden. He died on May 6, 1862 at age 44. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Canonical title
- Walking
- Original title
- Walking
- Original publication date
- 1862
- People/Characters
- Thoreau, David Henry
- Important places
- Concord, Massachusetts, USA
- First words
- I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness, as contrasted with a freedom and culture merely civil—to regard man as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel of Nature, rather than a member of society.
- Quotations
- I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least—and it is commonly more than that—sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all worldly... (show all) engagements.
To use an obsolete Latin word, I might say, Ex Oriente lux; ex Occidente FRUX. From the East light; from the West fruit.
The West of which I speak is but another name for the Wild; and what I have been preparing to say is, that in Wildness is the preservation of the World.
A tanned skin is something more than respectable, and perhaps olive is a fitter color than white for a man—a denizen of the woods. "The pale white man!" I do not wonder that the African pitied him. Darwin the naturalist say... (show all)s, "A white man bathing by the side of a Tahitian was like a plant bleached by the gardener's art, compared with a fine, dark green one, growing vigorously in the open fields."
It requires a direct dispensation from Heaven to become a walker. You must be born into the family of the Walkers. Ambulator nascitur, non fit. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)So we saunter toward the Holy Land, till one day the sun shall shine more brightly than ever he has done, shall perchance shine into our minds and hearts, and light up our whole lives with a great awakening light, as warm and serene and golden as on a bankside in autumn.
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