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Walking



by Henry David Thoreau






I wish to speak a word for Nature; for absolute freedom and

wildness; as contrasted with a freedom and culture merely

civilto regard man as an inhabitant; or a part and parcel of

Nature; rather than a member of society。 I wish to make an

extreme statement; if so I may make an emphatic one; for there

are enough champions of civilization: the minister and the school

committee and every one of you will take care of that。







I have met with but one or two persons in the course of my life

who understood the art of Walking; that is; of taking walkswho

had a genius; so to speak; for SAUNTERING; which word is

beautifully derived 〃from idle people who roved about the

country; in the Middle Ages; and asked charity; under pretense of

going a la Sainte Terre;〃 to the Holy Land; till the children

exclaimed; 〃There goes a Sainte…Terrer;〃 a Saunterer; a

Holy…Lander。 They who never go to the Holy Land in their walks;

as they pretend; are indeed mere idlers and vagabonds; but they

who do go there are saunterers in the good sense; such as I mean。

Some; however; would derive the word from sans terre without land

or a home; which; therefore; in the good sense; will mean; having

no particular home; but equally at home everywhere。 For this is

the secret of successful sauntering。 He who sits still in a house

all the time may be the greatest vagrant of all; but the

saunterer; in the good sense; is no more vagrant than the

meandering river; which is all the while sedulously seeking the

shortest course to the sea。 But I prefer the first; which;

indeed; is the most probable derivation。 For every walk is a sort

of crusade; preached by some Peter the Hermit in us; to go forth

and reconquer this Holy Land from the hands of the Infidels。



It is true; we are but faint…hearted crusaders; even the walkers;

nowadays; who undertake no persevering; never…ending enterprises。

Our expeditions are but tours; and come round again at evening to

the old hearth…side from which we set out。 Half the walk is but

retracing our steps。 We should go forth on the shortest walk;

perchance; in the spirit of undying adventure; never to return

prepared to send back our embalmed hearts only as relics to our

desolate kingdoms。 If you are ready to leave father and mother;

and brother and sister; and wife and child and friends; and never

see them againif you have paid your debts; and made your will;

and settled all your affairs; and are a free manthen you are

ready for a walk。



To come down to my own experience; my companion and I; for I

sometimes have a companion; take pleasure in fancying ourselves

knights of a new; or rather an old; ordernot Equestrians or

Chevaliers; not Ritters or Riders; but Walkers; a still more

ancient and honorable class; I trust。 The Chivalric and heroic

spirit which once belonged to the Rider seems now to reside in;

or perchance to have subsided into; the Walkernot the Knight;

but Walker; Errant。 He is a sort of fourth estate; outside of

Church and State and People。



We have felt that we almost alone hereabouts practiced this noble

art; though; to tell the truth; at least if their own assertions

are to be received; most of my townsmen would fain walk

sometimes; as I do; but they cannot。 No wealth can buy the

requisite leisure; freedom; and independence which are the

capital in this profession。 It comes only by the grace of God。 It

requires a direct dispensation from Heaven to become a walker。

You must be born into the family of the Walkers。 Ambulator

nascitur; non fit。 Some of my townsmen; it is true; can remember

and have described to me some walks which they took ten years

ago; in which they were so blessed as to lose themselves for half

an hour in the woods; but I know very well that they have

confined themselves to the highway ever since; whatever

pretensions they may make to belong to this select class。 No

doubt they were elevated for a moment as by the reminiscence of a

previous state of existence; when even they were foresters and

outlaws。

         〃When he came to grene wode;

            In a mery mornynge;

          There he herde the notes small

            Of byrdes mery syngynge。



         〃It is ferre gone; sayd Robyn;

            That I was last here;

          Me Lyste a lytell for to shote

            At the donne dere。〃



I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits; unless I

spend four hours a day at leastand it is commonly more than

thatsauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields;

absolutely free from all worldly engagements。 You may safely say;

A penny for your thoughts; or a thousand pounds。 When sometimes I

am reminded that the mechanics and shopkeepers stay in their

shops not only all the forenoon; but all the afternoon too;

sitting with crossed legs; so many of themas if the legs were

made to sit upon; and not to stand or walk uponI think that

they deserve some credit for not having all committed suicide

long ago。



I; who cannot stay in my chamber for a single day without

acquiring some rust; and when sometimes I have stolen forth for a

walk at the eleventh hour; or four o'clock in the afternoon; too

late to redeem the day; when the shades of night were already

beginning to be mingled with the daylight; have felt as if I had

committed some sin to be atoned for;I confess that I am

astonished at the power of endurance; to say nothing of the moral

insensibility; of my neighbors who confine themselves to shops

and offices the whole day for weeks and months; aye; and years

almost together。 I know not what manner of stuff they are

ofsitting there now at three o'clock in the afternoon; as if it

were three o'clock in the morning。 Bonaparte may talk of the

three…o'clock…in…the…morning courage; but it is nothing to the

courage which can sit down cheerfully at this hour in the

afternoon over against one's self whom you have known all the

morning; to starve out a garrison to whom you are bound by such

strong ties of sympathy。 I wonder that about this time; or say

between four and five o'clock in the afternoon; too late for the

morning papers and too early for the evening ones; there is not a

general explosion heard up and down the street; scattering a

legion of antiquated and house…bred notions and whims to the four

winds for an airing…and so the evil cure itself。



How womankind; who are confined to the house still more than men;

stand it I do not know; but I have ground to suspect that most of

them do not STAND it at all。 When; early in a summer afternoon;

we have been shaking the dust of the village from the skirts of

our garments; making haste past those houses with purely Doric or

Gothic fronts; which have such an air of repose about them; my

companion whispers that probably about these times their

occupants are all gone to bed。 Then it is that I appreciate the

beauty and the glory of architecture; which itself never turns

in; but forever stands out and erect; keeping watch over the

slumberers。



No doubt temperament; and; above all; age; have a good deal to do

with it。 As a man grows older; his ability to sit still and

follow indoor occupations increases。 He grows vespertinal in his

habits as the evening of life approaches; till at last he comes

forth only just before sundown; and gets all the walk that he

requires in half an hour。



But the walking of which I speak has nothing in it akin to taking

exercise; as it is called; as the sick take medicine at stated

hoursas the Swinging of dumb…bells or chairs; but is itself the

enterprise and adventure of the day。 If you would get exercise;

go in search of the springs of life。 Think of a man's swinging

dumbbells for his health; when those springs are bubbling up in

far…off pastures unsought by him!



Moreover; you must walk like a camel; which is said to be the

only beast which ruminates when walking。 When a traveler asked

Wordsworth's servant to show him her master's study; she

answered; 〃Here is his library; but his study is out of doors。〃



Living much out of doors; in the sun and wind; will no doubt

produce a certain roughness of characterwill cause a thicker

cuticle to grow over some of the finer qualities of our nature;

as on the face and hands; or as severe manual labor robs the

hands of some of their delicacy of touch。 So staying in the

house; on the other hand; may produce a softness and smoothness;

not to say thinness of skin; accompanied by an increased

sensibility to certain impressions。 Perhaps we should be more

susceptible to some influences important to our intellectual and

moral growth; if the sun had shone and the wind blown on us a

little less; and no doubt it is a nice matter to proportion

rightly the thick and thin skin。 But methinks that is a scurf

that will fall off fast enoughthat the natural remedy is to be

found in the proportion wh
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