Adventures of an Imperfect Man In Search of a Handmade Life
"The aim of the laborer should be, not to get his living, to get "a good job," but to perform well a certain work; and, even in a pecuniary sense, it would be economy for a town to pay its laborers so well that they would not feel that they were working for low ends, … Continue reading Thoughts on Labor – 1854
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." Henry David Thoreau, Walden. Take some advice from an unlikely hero, Don Quixote. Do your own thing... Have an adventure, go live … Continue reading Dream On and March to the Beat of Your Own Drummer
"Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind." Henry David Thoreau, Walden. Heavy words when you think about them. I like nice stuff. I buy good clothes, decent shoes, and drive a new(ish) vehicle. We all like new, … Continue reading Real Comforts
Here's an interesting article about Thoreau's early career and the incident that may have been a catalyst for his move out of town into the woods nearby. As it happened a year before the Walden experiment, it may have had some bearing on the idea. From the Boston Globe: On April 30, 1844, Thoreau started … Continue reading Henry David Thoreau, “Woods Burner”
” You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” via Emerson says: — The Müscleheaded Blog
"The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it." ~ Henry David Thoreau
When a traveler asked Wordsworth’s servant to show him her master’s study, she answered "Here is his library, but his study is out of doors."
However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as you are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is. You may perhaps have some pleasant, … Continue reading A Little Art and Some Wise Words from Thoreau for the End of the Week
"Men and boys are learning all kinds of trades but how to make men of themselves. They learn to make houses; but they are not so well housed, they are not so contented in their houses, as the woodchucks in their holes. What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable … Continue reading Making Your Attitude
“However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as you are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is. You may perhaps have some pleasant, … Continue reading “The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise”
"A pine cut down, a dead pine, is no more a pine than a dead human carcass is a man. Can he who has discovered only some of the values of whalebone and whale oil be said to have discovered the true use of the whale? Can he who slays the elephant for his ivory … Continue reading Life, Destruction, and Incidental Use
Kindness to children, love for children, goodness to children—these are the only investments that never fail. Henry David Thoreau
"A sad soul can kill you quicker, much quicker, than any germ." Henry David Thoreau
Life is short. Don't take your best parts to the grave.
"A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone." Walden, Henry David Thoreau 1854.
"I have a great deal of company in my house; especially in the morning, when nobody calls." Henry David Thoreau, Walden 1854. There is more to visiting than empty talk.
Books: “Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations. Books, the oldest and the best, stand naturally and rightfully on the shelves of every cottage. They have no cause of their own to plead, but while they enlighten and sustain the reader his common sense will not … Continue reading Books
"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them." Henry David Thoreau, Walden. Build your dream, justify it later...
"It is never too late to give up your prejudices." Henry David Thoreau, Walden 1854.
“Take long walks in stormy weather or through deep snows in the fields and woods, if you would keep your spirits up. Deal with brute nature. Be cold and hungry and weary.” Henry David Thoreau, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience.
Preindustrial Craftsmanship 