Transcendentalism: Henry David Thoreau

Transcendentalism was a philosophical movement that focused on discovering the truth about life and man through nature. Therefore, transcendentalists pondered the answer to a life worth living. Henry David Thoreau attempts to answer this question in Walden by the following quote: “Simplify, simplify. Instead of three meals a day, if it be necessary eat but one; instead of a hundred dishes, five; and reduce other things in proportion”. His statement emphasizes the idea that “our life is frittered away by detail”. Society plants the idea in people’s heads that the more one has, the better their life would be. As a result, many people obsess over materialism and concern themselves with many trivial things. Thoreau also proposes the idea that one’s greed and concern for these inessential items act as the reasons as to why one never feels truly happy or satisfied with their life in the following quote: “We are determined to be starved before we are hungry”. What Thoreau conveys here is that most people live nice and comfortable lives, yet they still complain about their dissatisfaction without taking action as if they are “starving”, emphasizing how ungrateful humans can
be.
According to Thoreau, a life worth living is a simple life, which is when one appreciates what they have and what nature can give, as well as focusing on their happiness and self-fulfillment, instead of monetary rewards and concern for unnecessary
subjects. If one is not grateful for what they already have, they would not be truly satisfied with what they might acquire in the future, as it will never be enough.