"If I should sell both my forenoons and my afternoons to society as most appear to do, I am sure that for me there would be nothing left worth living for," Thoreau wrote. "Let us consider the way in which we spend our lives. The world is a place of business. What an infinite bustle...There is no sabbath. It would be glorious to see mankind at leisure for once. It is nothing but work, work, work. I cannot easily buy a blank book to write thoughts in; they are commonly ruled for dollars and cents...I think there is nothing, not even crime, more opposed to poetry, to philosphy, ay, to life itself than this incessant business...
If a man should walk in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer, but if he spends his whole day as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making earth bald before her time, he is esteemed an industrious and enterprising citizen."
-from Life Without Principle, 1863
"Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not only indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind."
Thoreau's words seem all the more relevant today.
1 comment:
True dat!
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