5 things i didn’t know about henry david thoreau

Hey, y’all,

I come from a family of nature lovers, so I heard Henry David Thoreau, the 19th century naturalist and writer, quoted aloud long before I ever read him. And I learned, as a kid, then a high schooler, then a college and grad student, how much the thoughts on living Thoreau posited—on nature, man, civil disobedience, and more—clicked with something true in my soul.

So, I set the TV timer t record Henry David Thoreau, the Ken Burns special on PBS, weeks before it aired. I watched at night after supper. My husband and 12 year-old daughter didn’t start out watching with me, but when they wandered through the livingroom, they were soon hooked. Burns is a master storyteller with a keen eye for the complications of American history, and a near-perfect record of enlisting America’s finest actors to voice words which make the past feel immediate.

What a resounding joy to learn so much more about Thoreau’s complicated humanity. He once wrote that, in his writing and walking and living, he wanted “to affect the quality of the day.” I feel those words in my soul, now more than ever.

Here are 5 HDT quotes I’d not heard before, but learned from the documentary. Do yourself a favor and watch the PBS special: it will soothe your soul, ping your intellect, activate (or reactivate) your environmentalism, and give you something to hope for as spring unfurls around us.