1 88 The Life Worth Living 



the present order of society ; but beyond that 

 amount, money is a commodity to be bought 

 or not to be bought, a luxury in which we may 

 indulge or stint ourselves like any other. And 

 there are many luxuries that we may legiti- 

 mately prefer to money, such as a grateful con- 

 science, a country life, or the woman of our 

 inclination. Trite, flat, and obvious as this 

 conclusion may appear, we have only to look 

 around us to see how scantily it has been 

 recognized ; and after a little reflection perhaps 

 we may decide to spend a trifle less for money 

 and indulge ourselves a trifle more in freedom. 

 Says Thoreau: "To have done anything by 

 which you earned money merely, is to be idle 

 and worse." There are in his letters two pas- 

 sages relating to firewood which illustrate 

 curiously the man's habits and instinct of 

 studying causes and reasons rather than effects. 

 He says: "I suppose I have burned up a 

 good- sized tree to-night and for what? I 

 settled with Mr. Tarbell for it the other day ; 

 but that was n't a final settlement. I got off 

 cheaply from him. At last one will say: 'Let 

 us see, how much wood did you burn, sir? ' 



