Misquoting Thoreau

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essemtial facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

-Henry David Thoreau

When Thoreau “went to the woods,” he stayed for 2 years, 2 months and 2 days. He built his own cabin on land owned by his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson. It was a place known as Walden Pond and is near Concord, Massachusetts.

I don’t intend to spend nearly that long. And I’m not going to the woods. And I won’t be building a cabin.

But. . .

Thoreau’s quote calls to me this week. So, I shall go to the mountains because I wish to avoid distractions, to carry with me the essentials of life, and see if I could not what it had to teach, and not when I die, discover I had not lived.

Well, I’ll be camping this weekend at 6,000 feet in the snow, so hopefully the death part will come later rather than sooner.

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.

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