Henry David Thoreau, born July 12, 1817, is today considered to be a major influence in various domains in the United States. His works are widely spread, read and studied in a number of different contexts and he was a source of inspiration for a lot of people. He did multiple things in his lifetime, but he mostly dedicated his life to work. Looking to know more about his life brings a few things to my mind. I might be stating the obvious, but this is what strikes me when learning more about him.

Because of Walden, Thoreau is deemed one of the pioneers of ecology and an environmentalist. During his lifetime, no one would have called him that. People at that time called him an eccentric behind the times. He was seen as a grumpy man who turned his back to life and progress. Thoreau never aimed at being an ecologist or an environmentalist. Walden started as a search for a different lifestyle. Thoreau was tired of society, of consumerism and wanted to prove that there could be a life different from what everybody called the civilized world. He was just a man seeking peace and solitude to be inspired and write.

Another thing that strikes me is Thoreau’s late popularity. Because of the 20^th century society and of what people around him thought and said of him, he was never popular during his lifetime. His works became really famous at what I view to be an odd time. Walden, which is somehow perceived as ecological, was acclaimed in the 20^th century because of the rise of the ecological movement and of the 60’s social movements against capitalism. Civil Disobedience became famous when people started to rebel against the government, express counter opinions and seek for ideological independence. I think it is an anachronism that his works, written in the 18^th century – at a time where society was completely different and lives where conducted in such dissimilar ways – found an attentive audience in the 20^th century and never before.

This is a thought I extend to a lot of writings. I realize it is important to know and understand what our ancestors have written during their time. But why is it that we rely on old and distant works and found our reasonings on them? Ecologists and anarchists use Walden as a starting thesis and admire Thoreau for the time he spent away from society. Maybe these do not realize that when leaving civilization behind – to a place within walking distance from that civilization he was escaping – Thoreau did not have the Internet, a cellphone, a car or even heating as we know it. I am not saying it was easy for him to go, but his experience cannot be lived again. Times change, lifestyles change, and it seems sometimes irrational to think our way of life through the scope of ancient writings and thoughts.