WALDEN: Notes on Reading
Compiled by Ms. Smith’s English Class
Paragraph 5: Needs inspiration and ideas to write. You need to be committed to what you do; no matter what this is.
Paragraph 6: Generosity pays off and allows you to feel good about what you do.
Paragraph 7: It is better to be isolated form society. Then you do not need to worry about what people think. Allows you to be true to yourself.
Paragraph 8: Everything worth doing takes time. Make the most of what you have so you can fulfill your own potential.
Paragraph 9: You should live close to nature. Animals- all natural life- thrives on instinct and is more truthful than human society. We should follow nature’s example.
Paragraph 10-11: Most human society is not necessary; commune with and meditate on natural world for “divine inspiration”.
Paragraph 12: The place Thoreau lived was indefinitely satisfying to him because he made a conscious effort to take in every detail.
Paragraph13: We look to far away worlds for inspiration, and fantasize majestic worlds beyond our reach while overlooking the glorious details of the “here and now” in the world we occupy.
Paragraph 14-15: “Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity…and innocence, as with nature herself.” In other words, each new day is a fresh opportunity to refresh his perspective and simplify his life there by freeing Thoreau to observe and learn from the beauty of Nature.
Paragraph 16: “I went into 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”. Thoreau wanted to live with purpose: experiencing it as full and as truthfully as possible so that he could as he could die without regretting wasting his life.
Paragraph 17: Simple life and simplicity is important because it forces you to rely on yourself. That makes you stronger and freer.
Paragraph 18: Society ruined by pursuit of “luxury”. They depend on technology not just for information but for status. People focus on “improving” life by acquiring material goals, while their spirit and intellect rots and withers.
Paragraph 19: If you ring the church bell because there is a fire people come running. But no one runs to hear the truth even though it is just as urgent to know the truth as it is just as urgent to know the truth as it is to put out a fire. We hurry to waste time.
