Henry David Thoreau's essay titled Walden is his account of two years in the wilderness by Walden pond. In his very first section he speaks of economy. He mentions absolute freedom, where he would was totally independent from the government and from his fellow neighbors. He first surveyed the land and found a nice clearing for a home. By building his own house he was able to personalize it to his liking and and construct if at an affordable price. He claimed stones, timber, and sand by squatters rights, while purchasing the nails, boards, metal, etc.. He then decided to experiment in farming by planting two acres of beans, with some peas, corn, potatoes and turnips. At the end of the first year he had made $8.50. All his furniture and household materials were hand made except for the lamps and oil. During his two year experiment in the wilderness, he surveyed all the land.
" In my imagination I have bought all the farms in succession, for all were to be bought ,
and I knew their price. I walked over each farmer's premises, tasted his wild apples, discoursed on
husbandry with him, took his farm at his price, at any price, mortgaging it to him in my mind".
-Henry David Thoreau
His mind was his main tool out in the woods of Walden Pond. The essay is brought to a close with a ten page conclusion, closing all his topics, observations, philosophies into one ball of wax. Thoreau states "that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will met with a success unexpected in common hours". His overwhelming feelings on freedom, and the pursuit of happiness for himself, can be applied to everything we do today. You can take his work and mold his beliefs into yourself, remembering that he was just an everyday man who broke social taboos and created a life of his own, that is the true wisdom of Henry David Thoreau.
Works Cited: Brooks. Walden and other writings of Henry David Thoreau New York: Modern Library, 1965 Eric Denby