Henry David Thoreau Biography
1817-1862
Born in Concord, Massachusetts, Henry David Thoreau, along with Ralph Waldo Emerson, became one of
the major proponents of transcendentalism, a 19th century literary and philosophical movement. This
uniquely American philosophy relied upon intuition as the means to spiritual truth. Ferociously
individualistic, Thoreau believed in the divinity of man (and woman) while encouraging people to
disregard authority and follow the dictates of their innermost self.
Known mainly for his writings on
nature,
Thoreau is one of our country's premier naturalists.
However, his philosophy of "living deliberately" also inspired many throughout the
years, most notably Gandhi and Martin Luther King. In fact, Thoreau's essay
Civil Disobedience,
published in 1849, provided these two revolutionaries with their ideas on passive resistance.
Thoreau's major work,
Walden (1854) is still read today, inspiring young and old alike to a
life of simplicity, self-knowledge, individualism, and truth. This American classic was written
during Thoreau's two-year stint at Walden Pond, where he lived a Spartan-like existence in a
one-room cabin.
Henry David Thoreau died of tuberculosis when he was only forty-four years old. Of him, Henry Miller
wrote:
"He (Thoreau) appeared at a time when we had a choice as to the direction, we, the American
people, would take. Like Emerson and Whitman, he pointed out the right road - the hard road… As a
people we chose differently. And we are now reaping the fruits of our choice… It is too late now to
change, we think. But it is not. As individuals, as men (and women) it is never too late to change.
That is what these sturdy forerunners of ours (Thoreau, Emerson, Whitman) were emphasizing all their
lives."
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