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eserver.org/walden02.html).This, he implies is impossible in society. Thoreau stresses that although he is alone, he is never lonely. In fact, it is society and living away from nature that creates a sense of loneliness and hatred for one's own species: "I experienced sometimes that the most sweet and tender, the most innocent and encouraging society may be found in any natural object, even for the poor misanthrope and most melancholy man. There can be no very black melancholy to him who lives in the midst of Nature and has his senses still" (Thoreau, Chapter 5, Paragraph 4, (http://thoreau.eserver.org/walden02.html).People only long for what they do not have, when they can see other people who seem to be having a better life, alone and in nature, longing for material goods and a superficially large circle of friends goes away. The presence of nature alone quiets the senses, and the innocent and natural company of the woods is available to everyone, in a democratic fashion.
Thoreau's Walden experiment suggests that to fully experience...
It is too difficult not to get caught up in the hustle and bustle and false values of society. Instead, to truly connect to nature, and one's own, true, 'natural' nature requires space and true peace within that can only be conveyed through the absolute liberty of fending for one's existence, independently in nature. This is also, one might add a very American philosophy -- freedom to do as one chooses is necessary to truly be fully human, according to Thoreau. But also finding truth in Nature and living in the wilderness by the sweat of one's brow is also very democratic and American way of finding transcendence, as anyone who is willing to give up luxury and comfort can enjoy the pleasures of nature, regardless of their birth and original economic circumstances.
Works Cited
Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. 1854 Complete e-text available at http://thoreau.eserver.org/walden00.html
Works Cited
Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. 1854 Complete e-text available at http://thoreau.eserver.org/walden00.html
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