Emerson/Thoreau

Transcendentalism is the belief that truths about life and death can be reached by going outside the world of the senses. Henry David Thoreau was the prime example of transcendentalism and this is one of my favorite quotes. “Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify, simplify! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail.”  

Thoreau believed living simple was the best way to live. At the age of 28 he went to Walden pond and built his cabin on land owned by Emerson. While at Walden, Thoreau did an incredible amount of reading and writing, yet he also spent much time "sauntering" in nature. This is where he wrote his book Walden (http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/thoreau/).  

Thoreau’s beliefs and ideas influenced many civil rights leaders from Ghandi to Martin Luther King Jr. Ghandi credits Thoreau with helping the abolition of slavery. Martin Luther King Jr. credits Thoreau with giving him his first experience at non-violent protest. Because of this experience, Martin Luther King Jr. was inspired to become one of the most influential civil rights leaders in our nation's history. Once again, the basic counter-cultural impulses can be seen in the early years of the 21st century. People are beginning to explore old and new ideas about self-sufficiency, sustainable living, ecological concerns, a desire for harmony with the natural environment and exploration of new age philosophies and religions. The concerns of the time may have changed, but the push back against public consistency remains the same (http://www.ehow.com/facts_7394279_transcendentalism-affects-today.html).  Today there are also many ways people make things not simple. One example of this is the massive use of technology. It is not simple at all and there wasn’t any less than a hundred years ago. Many things have changed since Thoreau’s time, but many things are still the same.