Gboreau 



dom of thought than there was forty years ago, and 

 perhaps no better evidence of true advance than 

 the increase in numbers of those who now ponder 

 as seriously over Thoreau's suggestive pages as they 

 were once entertained by the polished periods of 

 Lowell. 



Extremes are necessary to effect great changes. 

 No man ever yet drove a nail home, using only the 

 exact force needed. There will always be an 

 over-expenditure of enthusiasm. Thoreau always 

 said more than he meant, knowing that, if he did 

 not, his meaning would not reach home. He did 

 not expect or wish a Walden hut to be built on the 

 shore of every frog-pond. It was enough that 

 his own experience should be an object-lesson for 

 succeeding generations. We can carry a hermit- 

 age with us wherever we go, and meditate therein 

 to our advantage. There are few men of culture 

 but have or long to have their " den " where they 

 are comparatively free from interruption. This is 

 the meaning of Walden. He knew, well enough, 

 that to be heard we must speak loudly to the 

 deaf, and he shouted his best phrases where others 

 have whispered and been unheeded. There is a 

 roughness that is excusable on occasion. We do 

 not ask the drowning man if his arm is sore when 

 we firmly grasp it to save his life. If the reader 

 is surprised at times at Thoreau's earnestness and 

 plainness of speech, he must remember that he 

 was a man with a purpose, and held his moments 

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