WALDEN AND ON THE DUTY OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE. Henry David Thoreau

purification at the end of every

      fifty-two years, in the belief that it was time for the world to come

      to an end.

      I have scarcely heard of a truer sacrament, that is, as the dictionary

      defines it, “outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual

      grace,” than this, and I have no doubt that they were originally

      inspired directly from Heaven to do thus, though they have no biblical

      record of the revelation.

      For more than five years I maintained myself thus solely by the labor

      of my hands, and I found, that by working about six weeks in a year, I

      could meet all the expenses of living. The whole of my winters, as well

      as most of my summers, I had free and clear for study. I have

      thoroughly tried school-keeping, and found that my expenses were in

      proportion, or rather out of proportion, to my income, for I was

      obliged to dress and train, not to say think and believe, accordingly,

      and I lost my time into the bargain. As I did not teach for the good of

      my fellow-men, but simply for a livelihood, this was a failure. I have

      tried trade; but I found that it would take ten years to get under way

      in that, and that then I should probably be on my way to the devil. I

      was actually afraid that I might by that time be doing what is called a

      good business. When formerly I was looking about to see what I could do

      for a living, some sad experience in conforming to the wishes of

      friends being fresh in my mind to tax my ingenuity, I thought often and

      seriously of picking huckleberries; that surely I could do, and its

      small profits might suffice,—for my greatest skill has been to want but

      little,—so little capital it required, so little distraction from my

      wonted moods, I foolishly thought. While my acquaintances went

      unhesitatingly into trade or the professions, I contemplated this

      occupation as most like theirs; ranging the hills all summer to pick

      the berries which came in my way, and thereafter carelessly dispose of

      them; so, to keep the flocks of Admetus. I also dreamed that I might

      gather the wild herbs, or carry evergreens to such villagers as loved

      to be reminded of the woods, even to the city, by hay-cart loads. But I

      have since learned that trade curses everything it handles; and though

      you trade in messages from heaven, the whole curse of trade attaches to

      the business.

      As I preferred some things to others, and especially valued my freedom,

      as I could fare hard and yet succeed well, I did not wish to spend my

      time in earning rich carpets or other fine furniture, or delicate

      cookery, or a house in the Grecian or the Gothic style just yet. If

      there are any to whom it is no interruption to acquire these things,

      and who know how to use them when acquired, I relinquish to them the

      pursuit. Some are “industrious,” and appear to love labor for its own

      sake, or perhaps because it keeps them out of worse mischief; to such I

      have at present nothing to say. Those who would not know what to do

      with more leisure than they now enjoy, I might advise to work twice as

      hard as they do,—work till they pay for themselves, and get their free

      papers. For myself I found that the occupation of a day-laborer was the

      most independent of any, especially as it required only thirty or forty

      days in a year to support one. The laborer’s day ends with the going

      down of the sun, and he is then free to devote himself to his chosen

      pursuit, independent of his labor; but his employer, who speculates

      from month to month, has no respite from one end of the year to the

      other.

      In short, I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that to

      maintain one’s self on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime, if

      we will live simply and wisely; as the pursuits of the simpler nations

      are still the sports of the more artificial. It is not necessary that a

      man should earn his living by the sweat of his brow, unless he sweats

      easier than I do.

      One young man of my acquaintance, who has inherited some acres, told me

      that he thought he should live as I did, _if he had the means_. I would

      not have any one adopt _my_ mode of living on any account; for, beside

      that before he has fairly learned it I may have found out another for

      myself, I desire that there may be as many different persons in the

      world as possible; but I would have each one be very careful to find

      out and pursue _his own_ way, and not his father’s or his mother’s or

      his neighbor’s instead. The youth may build or plant or sail, only let

      him not be hindered from doing that which he tells me he would like to

      do. It is by a mathematical point only that we are wise, as the sailor

      or the fugitive slave keeps the polestar in his eye; but that is

      sufficient guidance for all our life. We may not arrive at our port

      within a calculable period, but we would preserve the true course.

      Undoubtedly, in this case, what is true for one is truer still for a

      thousand, as a large house is not proportionally more expensive than a

      small one, since one roof may cover, one cellar underlie, and one wall

      separate several apartments. But for my part, I preferred the solitary

      dwelling. Moreover, it will commonly be cheaper to build the whole

      yourself than to convince another of the advantage of the common wall;

      and when you have done this, the common partition, to be much cheaper,

      must be a thin one, and that other may prove a bad neighbor, and also

      not keep his side in repair. The only coöperation which is commonly

      possible is exceedingly partial and superficial; and what little true

      coöperation there is, is as if it were not, being a harmony inaudible

      to men. If a man has faith, he will coöperate with equal faith

      everywhere; if he has not faith, he will continue to live like the rest

      of the world, whatever company he is joined to. To coöperate, in the

      highest as well as the lowest sense, means _to get our living

      together_.