Henry David Thoreau's Beliefs

Life poses a good deal of difficulties when one tries to figure out the best way to live it through its many facets. Over time philosophers and thinkers have come up with their own formulas and ideas, some more attractive than others. One of these thinkers, Henry David Thoreau, came around with his own formula in the nineteenth century, his ideas the product of earlier thinkers, like Ralph Waldo Emerson. These ideas included the notion that man is basically good and should think and live independently from outside inspiration. Emerson expounds these ideas in his essay “Self-Reliance,” that man can find greatest knowledge and inspiration within himself. Thoreau took on this ideology, and instead of finding contentment only in writing about his
He states that the Good Life constitutes of freedom from possessions and obligations. Owning things one can do without only further enslaves man. Thoreau even alludes to Jesus' words about not gathering treasure that moth and rust destroy, and calls a life of possessions “a fool's life” (860). He also argues that the obligations one owes to those possessions ruins life. He refers to his townsmen who have inherited farms, and how their toils because of what they own ruin the life that could be lived much better. They “are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them” (861). Thus their possessions burden them with work and engagements which blind them to the truly good things that elevate life. “Let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand,” he encourages his readers (906). Likewise luxuries, things one does not need, “are positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind” (865). One must stick to the basics of what he needs for survival, and not distract himself by petty and meaningless possessions which ultimately fade away. Emerson similarly complains that people “measure their esteem of each other, by what each has, and not by what each is”
From Thoreau's remarks about not conforming to society and looking inwardly for inspiration, the assumption leads that man needs to embrace solitude and find sufficient interaction with himself. Anyway, people's superficial interactions in society do not accomplish anything worthwhile, Thoreau claims: “Society is commonly too cheap. We meet at very short intervals, not having had time to acquire any new value for each other” (914). Likewise Emerson himself states that “isolation must precede true society” (559). Man must cast away interaction with his family and friends and find isolation that induces “spiritual … elevation” (559) in order to live a good life. Nevertheless Thoreau takes this idea farther and explains that isolation must result in a oneness with nature. He compares himself to elements of nature such as insects and stars, and in describing specific instances of feeling this oneness when in nature, he explains that he is “no more lonely than [them]” (914). Once man understands that he is part of nature and devotes himself to deepening that connection, he will live a good life of the highest elevation. “Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself?” (915) Thoreau asks, claiming that as he is nature, he feels a closeness with it and embraces it. Thus the Good Life means withdrawing from interaction with other humans and instead embracing the company of one's mind and