In short, I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that to maintain one's self on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime, if we will live simply and wisely; as the pursuits of the simpler nations are still the sports of the more artificial. It is not necessary that a man should earn his living by the sweat of his brow, unless he sweats eas

By the words, necessary of life, I mean whatever, of all that man obtains by his own exertions, has been from the first, or from long use has become, so important to human life that few, if any, whether from savageness, or poverty, or philosophy, ever attempt to do without it.

Henry David Thoreau déclare son indépendance par rapport à la société américaine et va vivre à Walden Pond, dans le Massachussetts. Il imite consciemment les philosophes antiques et exprime le plus grand mépris pour la philosophie universitaire moderne. « De nos jours, il existe des professeurs de philosophie, mais pas de philosophes. […] Pour être