Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) is one of America’s greatest writers and one of the best and most insightful critics of American life. He is best known for Walden (1854), which is part how-to book, part celebration of Nature, part philosophical reverie and part critique of New England as the Industrial Revolution transformed America. He also wrote such radical tracts as “On Civil Disobedience,” and “A Plea for Captain John Brown.”
Thoreau wanted each of us to determine what we absolutely needed from life, figure out what we wanted in addition to that, and then find a way to achieve those goals without spending our entire lives working, accumulating and feeling the anxiety of material striving. He urged us to clear plenty of space in our lives for the work of the soul. “Simplify, simplify, simplify,” he urged.
Clay Jenkinson believes “Walden” is America’s greatest book and the most important guide to living a life of “simplicity, magnanimity, independence and trust.” Jenkinson was one of the principal commentators (talking heads) in Ken Burns’ recent three-part PBS documentary on Thoreau. Join Jenkinson as he offers insights into America’s most original thinkers.
