Walden, by H. D. Thoreau

This was an interesting book, very unlike anything I’ve read before (and I don’t mean this in a bad way).

A quick summary: Thoreau moves to Walden Pond, and lives there for two years in a cabin that he built himself.  In the book, he talks about building the cabin and how he spent his two years there. 

The book talked about what I consider an interesting topic:  living simply.  Thoreau moved to Walden and lived in the cabin, where he cooked his own meals and had only the things that he actually needed.  I found it impressive that he was able to live that way for two years.  Besides talking about his experience living there, he shares his ideas about different topics.  I thought these parts of the book were the most interesting to read, and there were definitely many great quotes (I thought).

What I didn’t like about the book was that at times it seemed a bit too slow for me.  For example, he spent a lot of time talking about the natural habitat around him, and while I did enjoy reading about it, it sometimes went on for (what I considered) too long.  I think I would have enjoyed a shorter version of the book a lot better.

But, like I said, there were parts I enjoyed very much.  Here are some of the quotes I liked:

“The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling.  Yet we do not treat ourselves nor one another thus tenderly.”

“What a man thinks of himself, that is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate.”

“In the long run, men hit only what they aim at.  Therefore, though they should fail immediately, they had better aim at something high.”

“We should be blessed if we live in the present always, and took advantage of every accident that befell us, like the grass which confesses the influence of the slightest dew that falls on it, and did not spend our time in atoning for the neglect of past opportunities, which we call doing our duty.”

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”