154 With Feet to the Earth 



that all want too much. Thoreau was a 

 wonder in that respect He required only 

 a place to sleep, a bit of plain food, plain 

 clothes, a few books, some pens and paper, 

 and liberty. Men had nothing more that 

 he needed, and nature met his other wants. 

 Ah, that problem of life : how easy to 

 solve before we know it ! The child is 

 more right than the man, and the man most 

 right who is still a child. For what does he 

 gain who loses his soul, and how many keep 

 their souls against the daily clutch of greed, 

 ambition, envy, appetite ? The child is 

 full of the wisdom of the All from which 

 he comes. He is above the trifles of grown- 

 up life. He eats and sleeps and plays and 

 sees, and if he is lent to the proper parents, 

 he has earth to walk on, blue, sweet air to 

 breathe, sun to brown him, birds to teach 

 him, shy, four-footed creatures to be his 

 mates, and trees, flowers, rocks, and waters 

 to put pictures, health, and gladness into 

 him. Thus conditioned he is content, and 

 content is wisdom. As we end the cycle 

 of life we return toward the beginning : we 

 realize that we have been wandering from 



