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On Man and Nature
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61 pages, Hardcover
First published January 28, 1960
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745 people want to read
About the author
Henry David Thoreau
2,345 books6,687 followersHenry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau) was an American author, naturalist, transcendentalist, tax resister, development critic, philosopher, and abolitionist who is best known for Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.
Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry total over 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions were his writings on natural history and philosophy, where he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern day environmentalism.
In 1817, Henry David Thoreau was born in Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University in 1837, taught briefly, then turned to writing and lecturing. Becoming a Transcendentalist and good friend of Emerson, Thoreau lived the life of simplicity he advocated in his writings. His two-year experience in a hut in Walden, on land owned by Emerson, resulted in the classic, Walden: Life in the Woods (1854). During his sojourn there, Thoreau refused to pay a poll tax in protest of slavery and the Mexican war, for which he was jailed overnight. His activist convictions were expressed in the groundbreaking On the Duty of Civil Disobedience (1849). In a diary he noted his disapproval of attempts to convert the Algonquins "from their own superstitions to new ones." In a journal he noted dryly that it is appropriate for a church to be the ugliest building in a village, "because it is the one in which human nature stoops to the lowest and is the most disgraced." (Cited by James A. Haught in 2000 Years of Disbelief.) When Parker Pillsbury sought to talk about religion with Thoreau as he was dying from tuberculosis, Thoreau replied: "One world at a time."
Thoreau's philosophy of nonviolent resistance influenced the political thoughts and actions of such later figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mohandas K. Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. D. 1862.
More: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/tho...
http://thoreau.eserver.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Da...
http://transcendentalism-legacy.tamu....
http://www.biography.com/people/henry...
Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry total over 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions were his writings on natural history and philosophy, where he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern day environmentalism.
In 1817, Henry David Thoreau was born in Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University in 1837, taught briefly, then turned to writing and lecturing. Becoming a Transcendentalist and good friend of Emerson, Thoreau lived the life of simplicity he advocated in his writings. His two-year experience in a hut in Walden, on land owned by Emerson, resulted in the classic, Walden: Life in the Woods (1854). During his sojourn there, Thoreau refused to pay a poll tax in protest of slavery and the Mexican war, for which he was jailed overnight. His activist convictions were expressed in the groundbreaking On the Duty of Civil Disobedience (1849). In a diary he noted his disapproval of attempts to convert the Algonquins "from their own superstitions to new ones." In a journal he noted dryly that it is appropriate for a church to be the ugliest building in a village, "because it is the one in which human nature stoops to the lowest and is the most disgraced." (Cited by James A. Haught in 2000 Years of Disbelief.) When Parker Pillsbury sought to talk about religion with Thoreau as he was dying from tuberculosis, Thoreau replied: "One world at a time."
Thoreau's philosophy of nonviolent resistance influenced the political thoughts and actions of such later figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mohandas K. Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. D. 1862.
More: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/tho...
http://thoreau.eserver.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Da...
http://transcendentalism-legacy.tamu....
http://www.biography.com/people/henry...
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
August 14, 2012
"Do a little more of that work which you had sometime confessed to be good, which you feel that society and your justest judge rightly demands of you. Do what you reprove yourself for not doing. Know that you are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with yourself without reason. Let me say to you and to myself in one breath, Cultivate the tree which you have found to bear fruit in your soil."
Got that? Last line especially.
Got that? Last line especially.
August 3, 2020
I love the way Thoreau writes about nature and the simple life. Oh how I wish life could be that way for me.
The above review was written some time ago. I just reread this book and am not as giddy about the book as I was on the first read.
This book is definitely about MAN. Very few references to women and they are not positive. Additionally, some of the passages refer to those who labor (work) and I sensed a superiority in his advice to those who are less fortunate them him. I marked a few lines throughout the book but most of the rest did not move me. Perhaps I'm older and wiser? Perhaps I'm woke? I don't know but I find it interesting how my rating on a book can change so drastically over the years.
The above review was written some time ago. I just reread this book and am not as giddy about the book as I was on the first read.
This book is definitely about MAN. Very few references to women and they are not positive. Additionally, some of the passages refer to those who labor (work) and I sensed a superiority in his advice to those who are less fortunate them him. I marked a few lines throughout the book but most of the rest did not move me. Perhaps I'm older and wiser? Perhaps I'm woke? I don't know but I find it interesting how my rating on a book can change so drastically over the years.
August 25, 2022
“The fate of the country does not depend on how you vote at the polls - the worst man is as strong as the best at that game; it does not depend on what kind of paper you drop into the ballot-box once a year, but on what kind of man you drop from your chamber into the street every morning.”
—
“Nature never makes haste; her systems revolve at an even pace. The buds swell imperceptibly, without hurry or confusion, as though the short spring days were an eternity. Why, then, should man hasten as if anything less than eternity were allotted for the least deed? The wise man is restful, never restless or impatient. He each moment abides where he is, as some walkers actually rest the whole body at each step, while others never relax the muscles of the legs till the accumulated fatigue obliges them to stop short.”
—
“We may live the life of a plant or animal without living an animal life. This constant and universal content of the animal comes of resting quietly in God's palm. I feel as if I could at any time resign my life and the responsibility into God's hands and become as innocent and free from care as a plant or stone.”
—
“Nature never makes haste; her systems revolve at an even pace. The buds swell imperceptibly, without hurry or confusion, as though the short spring days were an eternity. Why, then, should man hasten as if anything less than eternity were allotted for the least deed? The wise man is restful, never restless or impatient. He each moment abides where he is, as some walkers actually rest the whole body at each step, while others never relax the muscles of the legs till the accumulated fatigue obliges them to stop short.”
—
“We may live the life of a plant or animal without living an animal life. This constant and universal content of the animal comes of resting quietly in God's palm. I feel as if I could at any time resign my life and the responsibility into God's hands and become as innocent and free from care as a plant or stone.”
May 29, 2024
*insert quote about simplicity and the beauty of nature*
This book echoes so many thoughts I’ve had and morals that I strive towards.
This book echoes so many thoughts I’ve had and morals that I strive towards.
March 13, 2024
"We have lived not in proportion to the number of years that we have spent on the earth, but in proportion as we have enjoyed."
August 4, 2023
Reread warrants 5 life-affirming stars.
“My desire for knowledge is intermittent; but my desire to commune with the spirit of the universe, to be intoxicated with the fumes, call it, of the divine nectar, to bear my head through atmospheres and over heights unknown to my feet, is perennial and constant.”
“My desire for knowledge is intermittent; but my desire to commune with the spirit of the universe, to be intoxicated with the fumes, call it, of the divine nectar, to bear my head through atmospheres and over heights unknown to my feet, is perennial and constant.”
July 10, 2015
Just some good ol' Thoreau, writing some nice things about dewdrops and also talking about how great it must be to be poor. So, mixed bag. The curated nature of this collection made it feel a little disjointed at times, but not a bad read for a weekend in the woods.
May 14, 2021
A storehouse of trite quips, from "taking a walk in the morning is nice" to "the key to a good society is to stop paying attention to current events/politics and just move out of the city." I'll allow that the compiler maybe made him look bad, but this is pretty vapid stuff. [3/10]
November 9, 2011
Short read. Lovely, but had a hard time swallowing the last chapter. The agnostic in me just cannot muster up that much passion for "The Great Spirit."
January 27, 2024
To read Thoreau is to fall in love. The imagery with nature is unparalleled. The prose is tear-jerkingly, heart-achingly, woefully sensational. It is flowery to be sure. On Man and Nature, to me, read almost as the biblical Proverbs of King Solomon. Thoreau shares insights on aspirations, human faith, relaxation, courage, nature and beyond. It can be read as a way to approach life with a renewed mindset rooted in gratitude and mindfulness; living fully in the present moment; recognizing and being genuinely thrilled and thankful to live in the beauty of the world.
Is he actually a little unhinged with how much he loves nature? Sure. Is it a bit much that he is waxing poetic about whatever skunk cabbage is? I mean, yeah. But look past it and see a brilliance nonexistent in today’s world.
Compare to Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass”.
Sundry quotes to give you a glimpse into this short book of ideologies:
“We are rained and snowed on with gems. What a world we live in! What are the jewelers’ shops? There is nothing handsomer than a snowflake or dewdrop” (p. 6).
“Every man is the builder of a temple, called his body, to the God he worships, after a style purely his own, nor can he get off by hammering marble instead. We are all sculptors and painters, and our material is our own flesh and blood and bones. Any nobleness begins at once to refine a man’s features, any meanness or sensuality to imbrute them” (p. 11).
“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor.
True a man cannot life himself by his own waistbands, because he cannot get out of himself; but he can expand himself (which is better, there is no up nor down in nature), and so split his waistbands, being already within himself.
… Let every man mind his own business, and endeavor to be what he was made” (p. 12).
“Be resolutely and faithfully what you are, be humbly what you aspire to be. Be sure you give men the best of your wares, though they be poor enough, and the gods will help you to lay up a better store for the future” (p. 13).
“Not till we are lost, in other words, not till we have lost the world, do we being to find ourselves, and realize where we are and the infinite extent of our relations.
See what a life the gods have given us, set round with pain and pleasure. It is too strange for sorrow! It is too strange for joy” (p. 15).
“Cultivate poverty like sage, like a garden herb. Do not trouble yourself to get new things, whether clothes or friends. That is dissipation. Turn the old, return to them. Things to not change; we change. If I were confined to a corner in a garret all my days, like a spider, the world would be just as large to me while I had my thoughts.
You conquer fate by thought” (p. 25).
“What you call bareness and poverty is to me simplicity” (p. 27).
“Cowards would not have victory but the fruits of victory; but she it is that sweetens all the spoil. Thus, by a just fate the booty cannot fall to him who did not win it. There is victory in every effort. In the least swing of the arm, an indignant thought, in stern content, we conquer our foes” (p. 30).
“The only prayer for a brave man is to be a-doing. This is the prayer that is heard. Why ask God for a respite when he has not given it? Has he not done his work, and made man equal to his occasion, but he must have recourse to him again? God cannot give us any other help than self-help” (p. 32).
“Take time by the forelock. Now or never. You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this, or the like of this” (p. 33).
“The universe expects every man to do his duty in his parallel of latitude” (p. 35).
“Above all, we cannot afford not to live in the present. He is blessed over all mortals who loses no moment of the passing life in remembering the past” (p. 37).
“If misery loves company, misery has company enough” (p. 39).
“When we are unhurried and wise we perceive that great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute existence - that petty fears and petty pleasures are but the shadow of reality. This is always exhilarating and sublime” (p. 42).
“Health requires this relaxation, this aimless life. This life in the present” (p. 43).
“To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity and trust” (p. 43).
“Why should we live with such hurry and waste in life? We are determined to be starved before we are hungry. Men say that a stitch in time saves nine, so they take a thousand stitches today to save nine tomorrow” (p. 44).
Nature has “beveled the margins of the eyelids that the tears may not overflow on the cheek” (p. 53).
Is he actually a little unhinged with how much he loves nature? Sure. Is it a bit much that he is waxing poetic about whatever skunk cabbage is? I mean, yeah. But look past it and see a brilliance nonexistent in today’s world.
Compare to Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass”.
Sundry quotes to give you a glimpse into this short book of ideologies:
“We are rained and snowed on with gems. What a world we live in! What are the jewelers’ shops? There is nothing handsomer than a snowflake or dewdrop” (p. 6).
“Every man is the builder of a temple, called his body, to the God he worships, after a style purely his own, nor can he get off by hammering marble instead. We are all sculptors and painters, and our material is our own flesh and blood and bones. Any nobleness begins at once to refine a man’s features, any meanness or sensuality to imbrute them” (p. 11).
“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor.
True a man cannot life himself by his own waistbands, because he cannot get out of himself; but he can expand himself (which is better, there is no up nor down in nature), and so split his waistbands, being already within himself.
… Let every man mind his own business, and endeavor to be what he was made” (p. 12).
“Be resolutely and faithfully what you are, be humbly what you aspire to be. Be sure you give men the best of your wares, though they be poor enough, and the gods will help you to lay up a better store for the future” (p. 13).
“Not till we are lost, in other words, not till we have lost the world, do we being to find ourselves, and realize where we are and the infinite extent of our relations.
See what a life the gods have given us, set round with pain and pleasure. It is too strange for sorrow! It is too strange for joy” (p. 15).
“Cultivate poverty like sage, like a garden herb. Do not trouble yourself to get new things, whether clothes or friends. That is dissipation. Turn the old, return to them. Things to not change; we change. If I were confined to a corner in a garret all my days, like a spider, the world would be just as large to me while I had my thoughts.
You conquer fate by thought” (p. 25).
“What you call bareness and poverty is to me simplicity” (p. 27).
“Cowards would not have victory but the fruits of victory; but she it is that sweetens all the spoil. Thus, by a just fate the booty cannot fall to him who did not win it. There is victory in every effort. In the least swing of the arm, an indignant thought, in stern content, we conquer our foes” (p. 30).
“The only prayer for a brave man is to be a-doing. This is the prayer that is heard. Why ask God for a respite when he has not given it? Has he not done his work, and made man equal to his occasion, but he must have recourse to him again? God cannot give us any other help than self-help” (p. 32).
“Take time by the forelock. Now or never. You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this, or the like of this” (p. 33).
“The universe expects every man to do his duty in his parallel of latitude” (p. 35).
“Above all, we cannot afford not to live in the present. He is blessed over all mortals who loses no moment of the passing life in remembering the past” (p. 37).
“If misery loves company, misery has company enough” (p. 39).
“When we are unhurried and wise we perceive that great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute existence - that petty fears and petty pleasures are but the shadow of reality. This is always exhilarating and sublime” (p. 42).
“Health requires this relaxation, this aimless life. This life in the present” (p. 43).
“To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity and trust” (p. 43).
“Why should we live with such hurry and waste in life? We are determined to be starved before we are hungry. Men say that a stitch in time saves nine, so they take a thousand stitches today to save nine tomorrow” (p. 44).
Nature has “beveled the margins of the eyelids that the tears may not overflow on the cheek” (p. 53).
August 6, 2024
A great little tome. Insightful, life affirming, and challenging. This one is definitely getting a re-read, both for the pleasure of the word, and its insights into life, and transcendent/meditative experiences.
Here is so much depth of understanding on so many diverse topics. Nature, courage, re-creation, simplicity and more. Such a call for simplicity. A Simplicity we need desperately, writing from 2024, that age of outrage-fed social-media machines.
I don't normally appreciate authors who work so much within traditionally religious circles, but Thoreau has so much of a philosopher-poet that I found his PoV on things interesting non-the-less. And (admittedly as an ignorant atheist) he seemed to diverge in many places from my normal understanding of Judeo-Christian Religion.
I might not agree with everything in this book, but everything in it is both beautifully written and deeply interesting.
Here is so much depth of understanding on so many diverse topics. Nature, courage, re-creation, simplicity and more. Such a call for simplicity. A Simplicity we need desperately, writing from 2024, that age of outrage-fed social-media machines.
I don't normally appreciate authors who work so much within traditionally religious circles, but Thoreau has so much of a philosopher-poet that I found his PoV on things interesting non-the-less. And (admittedly as an ignorant atheist) he seemed to diverge in many places from my normal understanding of Judeo-Christian Religion.
I might not agree with everything in this book, but everything in it is both beautifully written and deeply interesting.
March 27, 2020
This is a book of quotes, and as such, it's not meant to be read cover-to-cover. Expect it to take awhile, especially if you want it to sink in properly.
Thoughtful quotes from Thoreau about raindrops and falling leaves. While some are near to incomprehensible (both for the archaic vocabulary and for the obscure meaning) others will speak directly to you. This book is worth reading just to read those few that cut right to you.
Recommended for fans of meditation books, people looking for something good to appreciate in life in general, and fans of Thoreau.
Thoughtful quotes from Thoreau about raindrops and falling leaves. While some are near to incomprehensible (both for the archaic vocabulary and for the obscure meaning) others will speak directly to you. This book is worth reading just to read those few that cut right to you.
Recommended for fans of meditation books, people looking for something good to appreciate in life in general, and fans of Thoreau.
January 25, 2018
There were a lot of great thoughts in this book. Also several that felt contradictory. So many times I scratched my head and wondered what this book would have been like to read when it was written. 4.5/5 I would recommend.
January 7, 2022
“It is never too late to give up our prejudices. No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof… What old people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can. Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new.”
August 24, 2022
I found a few dozen nuggets of wisdom here. I also found a few dozen thoughts that sent me researching for more description of the meaning. I’m always surprised to be reminded that Thoreau lived in the early to mid 1800’s.
December 24, 2023
Some gems.
“I wish to live ever as to derive my satisfactions and inspirations from the commonest events, every-day phenomena, so that what my senses hourly perceive, my daily walk, the conversation of my neighbors, may inspire me, and I may dream of no heaven but that which lies about me.”
“I wish to live ever as to derive my satisfactions and inspirations from the commonest events, every-day phenomena, so that what my senses hourly perceive, my daily walk, the conversation of my neighbors, may inspire me, and I may dream of no heaven but that which lies about me.”
Currently reading
January 30, 2025This very slim hardcover, published a few months before I was born, is designed and illustrated with an exquisitely simple beauty so fitting its contents, a compilation of Thoreau’s words from various publications by Houghton Mifflin.
January 20, 2019
My absolutely fav book! His thoughts soooo long ago yet still relevant and thought provoking.🌲💚🐾
February 2, 2020
19th century motivational quotations for nature lovers and white American sufis
February 16, 2020
A faster read than I anticipated...awesome nonetheless.
April 10, 2020
A short compilation of mostly one-liners by an American poet posing as a philosopher
August 20, 2020
A great mix of quotes and something that I can keep coming back to for inspiration.
January 13, 2021
if only life were as simple as this privileged white guy makes it out to be
July 26, 2021
He just got it.
December 22, 2021
This book is like a little green Bible of the love of Nature to me and ive carried it with me for years whenever I need a boost of the vibes it has.
April 20, 2022
A book of quotations. Some gems, but mostly a lot of repetition of the same themes over and over and over.
February 4, 2023
Some of the quotes at the beginning were surprisingly uplifting, and the book doesn't go by as fast as one would expect. It's a good time-killer, though
August 25, 2023
Short. Full of joy and life. But rich with imagery, rich with metaphor and aphorisms that push us to be present in the moment, in this world, and live well.
February 14, 2024
self help bros need to read this
April 24, 2024
Life changing book! I have a cool vintage copy and I feel like it should be near me always to remind me of the beauty of life whenever I feel down.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews