Walking (1862)

by Henry David Thoreau

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958	19	23,481	(3.81)	16
Nature. Philosophy. Nonfiction. HTML: If you are ready to leave father and mother, and brother and sister, and wife and child and friends, and never see them again, - if you have paid your debts, and made your will, and settled all your affairs, and are a free man, then you are ready for a walk. Walking is an essay by American writer, naturalist and philosopher David Thoreau (1817 - 1862). Thoreau's work has made a lasting contribution to modern environmental practice, and also influenced the non-violent resistance practiced by great civilians such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. .… (more)

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Walking (5)

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filbo_2024 | Apr 23, 2024 |

According to Thoreau, there's an art to walking. Essentially, it's being home yet not having a home; being on a pilgrimage, yet idling. And since this is Thoreau, he ties his favorite hobby to environmental nature, and then to human nature. (

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leah_markum | Oct 28, 2022 |

“Give me a wildness whose glance no civilization can endure” (

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kladimos | Sep 23, 2021 |

This book is a little gem. It's short, and the writing is lyrical.

Clearly, if Thoreau does not inspire you to love nature with this masterpiece, nothing will. (

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RajivC | Apr 16, 2021 |

Beautiful language but maybe I wasn't in the mood. It's comforting to go back and walk through nature. (

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bsmashers | Aug 1, 2020 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Thoreau, Henry David	—	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Envall, Markku	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Laguardia, Guglielmo	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

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Canonical title

Walking

Original title

Walking

Alternative titles

Original publication date

1862

People/Characters

Thoreau, David Henry

Important places

Concord, Massachusetts, USA

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

First words

I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness, as contrasted with a freedom and culture merely civil—to regard man as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel of Nature, rather than a member of society.

Quotations

I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least—and it is commonly more than that—sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all worldly engagements.

To use an obsolete Latin word, I might say, Ex Oriente lux; ex Occidente FRUX. From the East light; from the West fruit.

The West of which I speak is but another name for the Wild; and what I have been preparing to say is, that in Wildness is the preservation of the World.

A tanned skin is something more than respectable, and perhaps olive is a fitter color than white for a man—a denizen of the woods. "The pale white man!" I do not wonder that the African pitied him. Darwin the naturalist says, "A white man bathing by the side of a Tahitian was like a plant bleached by the gardener's art, compared with a fine, dark green one, growing vigorously in the open fields."

It requires a direct dispensation from Heaven to become a walker. You must be born into the family of the Walkers. Ambulator nascitur, non fit.

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Nature. Philosophy. Nonfiction. HTML:

If you are ready to leave father and mother, and brother and sister, and wife and child and friends, and never see them again, - if you have paid your debts, and made your will, and settled all your affairs, and are a free man, then you are ready for a walk.

Walking is an essay by American writer, naturalist and philosopher David Thoreau (1817 - 1862). Thoreau's work has made a lasting contribution to modern environmental practice, and also influenced the non-violent resistance practiced by great civilians such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

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