Henry David Thoreau: Spiritual and Prophetic Writings

If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer; but if he spends his whole day as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making earth bald before her time, he is esteemed an industrious and enterprising citizen. As if a town had no interest in its forests but to cut them down …! –Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), embodies classic features of the American spirit–nonconformity, the impulse to seek renewal in nature, and the will to stand firm by his convictions. Famous for his retreat to Walden Pond and his night in jail (described in The Duty of Civil Disobedience ), he was a profoundly religious man, though he remained unaffiliated with any organized religion. He might well serve as a patron saint for today’s spiritual but not religious seekers. Thoreau experienced mystical ecstasies in his youth; he followed an almost monastic discipline of contemplation; he was an early pioneer in the exploration of Hinduism and eastern religion, which he integrated with his deep immersion in nature and his highly refined social conscience. This anthology, which focuses specific attention on Thoreau’s spiritual and prophetic writings, draws on his voluminous journals, correspondence, essays, and selection from Walden and his other key works.