Ch 3 Walden Notes

Ch 3 Walden Notes

1. Wealth and materialistic possessions are not worth anything He believes that being literate is important and reading is reaching nobility

   • Books are the true wealth of civilization. The spiritual wealth that reading a piece of literature can bring is universal. Paradox of writing is that it represents the greatest accomplishments of man but only a small group of people know about it This is important for students to realize because it teaches them about how a literary voice can convey so much. Thoreau states, “A written word is the choicest of relics. It is the work of art nearest to life itself. It may be translated to into every language, and not only be read but actually breathed from all human lips” (Thoreau 191).

2. Thoreau says that people should always try harder to read better. He says that easy reading is pointless, and he centers his focus on one book, the Bible. He says that “our conversations and thinking are all on a very low level” and by reading, this will increase wisdom, and the increase of wisdom will result in liberality (Thoreau 194).

   • The way he advocates the art of writing connects him to writers that are long dead. He also says this in his book to make people in his community aware that intellect is important

3. He says that Concord does not strive for enough. He says that schools are unsatisfactory and limited. He says schooling should not be limited for children, but for adults as well.

   • He writes, “It is time that we had uncommon schools, that we did not leave off our education when we begin to be men and women” (Thoreau 196). By his attempt to awaken the townspeople from what swallows them up all day from what he believes to be more spiritually essential, readers can meditate on how much time we spend on the hastiness of life rather on taking time to keep learning.