Henry
David Thoreau is considered one of America's earliest environmentalists. As the
author of more than 20 books, he spoke out on many social issues such as peace,
living simply, abolishing slavery and civil resistance, in addition to ecological
concerns.
Henry
David Thoreau's philosophy of nature and its relation to the human condition was
inspired by his friend and mentor, Ralph Waldo Emerson. The inspiration for Thoreau's
most famous work, Walden, was a two year experiment of living alone in
the woods around the shore of Walden Pond in a house he built himself on land
owned by Emerson. The book was not very successful at the time, but today it is
regarded as a classic. Walden portrays the path to learning our true nature
by simplying one's life and living closely with and observing nature, away from
society's day-to-day material distractions. It shows how beauty, harmony and simplicity
are the cornerstones for a more peaceful, just and sustainable society.
Thoreau's
other famous work, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, was inspired after
he was jailed in 1846 for refusing to pay his taxes as a protest against slavery
in America and the Mexican-American War. This work influenced the lives of many
others throughout history, including Leo Tolstoy, Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther
King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy.
