Quotes from Walden

For the first quote, I chose quote #1. It talks about how Thoreau is going to spend time alone in nature away from everyone and everything and he wants to make sure he gets something from it. He says that he feels as if everything in today's society is taking away from what God has given to us to enjoy, but all of the technological advances of modern day life are taking away from it. Thoreau believes that if he goes and spends time alone in nature, that he will be able to find the real meaning of life. This quote tells us that Thoreau does not like all of the materialistic changes in the world.

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life". From that quote we know that Thoreau says that we don't need anything special other than what God has provided us, to live. This probably isn't an option in today's world because people would either wonder where you are, or they would find out what you are doing and then everyone would want to start experimenting with it too, and then it wouldn't be beneficial anymore because then that quiet part of nature would be corrupted by other people.

For the second quote, I chose quote # 3. "Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in". This tells us that time is always passing and you can never do the same thing in your life twice, and you will never experience the exact same thing again. The second part of the quote explains how once time has passed, you will always have that memory, and will have had that experience. This tells us that Thoreau wants us to appreciate the experiences we have and not take anything for granted. It can also be interpreted in the sense that everything happens for a reason, and that God has a plan for our life. I think that this still applies to modern life because everyone should be appreciative and thankful for what they have and the chances they get to take. Even though something doesn't go the way you planned, there's a reason for that, and the outcome might be beneficial to you later in life.

These two quotes show us how Thoreau relates things with nature and he makes it seem so important with life. People in this modern era should be able to realize we need to keep nature sacred and protected. If we keep destroying Mother Nature then it will eventually come back to haunt us and this is a crucial thing to learn from the third quote.