ECONOMY. 
23 
living any where else, but I must shift for myself, I 
turned my face more exclusively than ever to the woods, 
where I was better known. I determined to go into 
business at once, and not wait to acquire the usual capi¬ 
tal, using such slender means as I had already got. My 
purpose in going to Walden Pond was not to live cheap¬ 
ly nor to live dearly there, but to transact some private 
business with the fewest obstacles ; to be hindered from 
accomplishing which for want of a little common sense, 
a little enterprise and business talent, appeared not so 
sad as foolish. 
I have always endeavored to acquire strict business 
habits ; they are indispensable to every man. If your 
trade is with the Celestial Empire, then some small count¬ 
ing house on the coast, in some Salem harbor, will be 
fixture enough. You will export such articles as the 
country affords, purely native products, much ice and 
pine timber and a little granite, always in native bot¬ 
toms. These will be good ventures. To oversee all the 
details yourself in person; to be at once pilot and cap¬ 
tain, and owner and underwriter; to buy and sell and 
keep the accounts; to read every letter received, and 
write or read every letter sent; to superintend the dis¬ 
charge of imports night and day; to be upon many 
parts of the coast almost at the same time; — often the 
richest freight will be discharged upon a Jersey shore ; 
-—to be your own telegraph, unweariedly sweeping the 
horizon, speaking all passing vessels bound coastwise; 
to keep up a steady despatch of commodities, for the 
supply of such a distant and exorbitant market; to keep 
yourself informed of the state of the markets, prospects 
of war and peace every where, and anticipate the ten¬ 
dencies of trade and civilization, — taking advantage of 
